Guide to the Rudy Kikel papers, 1942-2017

(bulk 1960-2006)

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2018

Collection Overview

Title:	Rudy Kikel papers
Date range:	1942-2017, (bulk 1960-2006)
Creator:	Kikel, Rudy, 1942-2017
Extent:	16.5 Linear feet
Abstract:	This collection represents a comprehensive portrait of Rudy Kikel, a distinguished gay poet, scholar, and journalist, and a staunch supporter of gay and lesbian writers and artists. It documents Kikel's tenure as the arts and entertainment editor for Bay Windows, New England's leading LGBT weekly, from 1983 when it was first founded until he retired in 2004. The collection consists of a variety of materials, the bulk of which date from the early 1960s to 2004. It includes an extensive compilation of manuscripts of Kikel's poetry, copies of his scholarly and professional writings, an assortment of significant LGBT periodicals, and correspondence from many acclaimed gay poets, including Thom Gunn, Richard Howard, Felice Picano, Paul Monette, and James Merrill, to cite just a few.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.2008.029

Scope & content

This collection thoroughly documents the life and writing career of gay poet Rudy Kikel, the bulk of which dates from 1960, when he began college, to his retirement in 2004. It is comprised of a variety of materials, including correspondence, both personal and professional, poetry and prose manuscripts and galleys, diaries, and a number of print materials from notable LGBT publications. It also consists of an assortment of ephemeral materials ranging from newspaper and magazine clippings, and assorted invitations, to address books, note books, and calendars. There are also a few pencil drawings and several photographs.

Series 1. Correspondence is both comprehensive and informative, with letters sent to Kikel from some of the most prominent gay writers to emerge in the second half of the twentieth century, such as Thom Gunn, Richard Howard, Dennis Cooper, Paul Monette, Steve Abbott, and Joe Brainard, to name just a few. The letters provide not only substantive glimpses into the social, artistic, and intellectual world of established gay writers from that era, but also highlight Kikel's significant role as mentor and friend to, and publisher of, new and emerging post-Stonewall poets. This series also documents the publishing history of Kikel's poetry and includes a comprehensive collection of acceptance and rejection letters that he received over a broad span of time. A comprehensive collection of letters to and from Kikel and his family is also included in this series, the sum total of which provides detailed information about Kikel's personal life and family dynamics, his emotional and intellectual development, and other pertinent biographical information.

Series 2. Personal Papers includes a collection of Kikel's annotated calendars, ranging from 1986 to 2006, scattered notes recorded in composition notebooks, resumes, and a small amount of financial and medical documentation. Of particular significance in this series are Kikel's voluminous type-written journals (diaries) which offer an in-depth view of Kikel's emotional and intellectual life, his personal interests and social engagements, and his artistic development as a writer.

Series 3. University documents Kikel's academic career, both as student and university professor, and provides detailed information about Kikel's literary interests and pursuits. It is comprised of class notes, class rosters, exams, research materials, and term papers. Of special note is the original manuscript of Kikel's PhD dissertation for Harvard, entitled Critical Relations: A Study of Shifts in the Intellectual and Literary Relationship of Matthew Arnold and Walter Pater.

Series 4. Poetry consists of most, if not all of, original manuscripts of Kikel's poems, ranging from his earliest works to some of his more recent works. It includes manuscripts and marked-up galleys of some of his major poetry collections, including such titles as Lasting Relations, Long Division, Period Pieces, and Gottesheers. It also contains the manuscripts of two anthologies of gay men's poetry that Kikel edited, Gents, Badboys and Barbarians and This New Breed: Gents, Bad Boys, and Barbarians 2. Of particular significance in this series is the remarkable collection of type-written manuscripts of Kikel's earliest poems, some of which were subsequently published under the pseudonym R.J. Stark in one of the earliest periodicals created by and for gay men, One: the Homosexual Viewpoint.

Series 5. Writings incorporates Kikel's numerous works in prose, including copies of published articles covering a variety of topics for such prominent gay periodicals as Bay Windows, The Advocate and Gay Philadelphia News . It consists of numerous book reviews, theatre reviews, interviews of gay writers and artists, and LGBT social commentary.

Series 6. Subject files contains a small assortment of documents divided into miscellaneous topics ranging from materials pertaining to Kikel's partners, past (Craig Rowland) and present (Giles Sterling), to an assortment of LGBT-related materials.

Series 7. Ephemera consists of invitations, magazine and newspaper clippings, and two amateur portraits done in pencil, one of which is presumably of Kikel.

Series 8. Print Materials - Periodicals is comprised of scattered issues from various LGBT periodicals, most of them including works by Kikel, and all of them collected by Kikel over a span of many years. What is most noteworthy in this series are such early historic titles as One: The Homosexual Viewpoint, RFD: a Country Journal for Gay Men Everywhere, and Mouth of the Dragon.

Series 9. Print Materials - Books is comprised of books collected by Rudy Kikel during his life. Many volumes include annotations, correspondence from the author, and notes by Rudy Kikel. The bulk of Rudy Kikel's library can be located by searching the Brown University Library catalog for the keywords "Rudy Kikel papers".

Access Points

Subject Names

• Kikel, Rudy, 1942-2017
• Alyson, Sasha
• Abbott, Steve, 1943-
• Borawski, Walta
• Brainard, Joe, 1942-1994
• Cooper, Dennis, 1953-
• Howard, Richard, 1929-
• Gunn, Thom
• Merrill, James
• Monette, Paul
• Picano, Felice, ǂd 1944-

Subject Topics

• Gay men--United States--Poetry--20th century
• American poetry--20th century
• Gay men--Biography--20th century
• Gay men--United States--Poetry
• Gay men--Biography--20th century
• Journalists--United States--20th century
• Gay press publications--United States--History--20th century
• Gays' writings, American
• Journalists--United States--20th century--Biography--Archives

Occupations

• Poet

Document Types

• appointment books
• Drawings (visual works)
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Manuscripts (documents)
• Manuscripts for publication
• Periodicals
• Photographs
• Printed ephemera

Subject Topics

• Language and Literature

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into seven series:

• Series 1. Correspondence
• Series 2. Personal papers
• Series 3. University
• Series 4. Poetry
• Series 5. Writings
• Series 6. Subject files
• Series 7. Ephemera
• Series 8. Print materials - Periodicals
• Series 9. Print materials - Books

Series 1 is subdivided into five subseries: Family, Friend and Associates, Rudy Kikel letters, Poetry, and Professional with each subdivision arranged alphabetically by sender. Series 2-8 are arranged alphabetically by topic.

Biographical note

Rudy Kikel, an accomplished, award-winning poet, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, of immigrant parents from Gottschee (Slovenia) and raised in Queens (New York) where he attended Sacred Heart of Jesus Grammar School. After graduating from St. John's Preparatory School (Brooklyn, New York) in 1959, he earned an undergraduate degree at St. John's University in 1963 and a master's degree in English Literature from Penn State in 1965. He eventually settled in Boston after graduating from Harvard in 1975, where he completed a doctorate in English literature, concentrating on nineteenth-century poetry and prose. His thesis focused on the intellectual and literary relationship of Matthew Arnold and Walter Pater.

Throughout his writing career, Kikel published his poetry in a wide variety of periodicals, including such noteworthy literary journals as the (New) American Review , Ploughshares, The Widener Review, and Shenandoah. Between 1964 and 1966, he published some of his work under the pseudonym, R. J. Stark, in the magazine One: the Homosexual Viewpoint, one of the first pre-Stonewall gay periodicals established in the United States. His work was also anthologized in various publications such as The Bad Boy Book of Erotic Poetry and Eros in Boystown: Contemporary Gay Poems about Sex.

Kikel also published several collections of his poetry. They include: Shaping Possibilities, a chapbook of twenty-four sonnets and Lasting Relations in 1980; Longdivision in 1993; PeriodPieces in 1997; Gottesheers in 1997; and Talks in the Blue in 2008. He also edited two anthologies of poetry: Gents, Bad Boys, & Barbarians: New Gay Male Poetry in 1995; and its sequel, This New Breed: Gents, Bad Boys & Barbarians 2 in 2004. He was awarded the Grolier Poetry Prize in 1977.

Kikel was a graduate assistant at Penn State, a teaching fellow in General Education at Harvard, and a full-time instructor at Suffolk University. He worked for Bay Windows, New England's leading LGBTQ weekly, beginning in 1983 when it was first founded by Sasha Alyson, and is credited with naming the publication. He started there as poetry editor in 1983, promoted to arts editor in 1984, and finally assumed the position of arts, entertainment and lifestyles editor in 1992. During his tenure as editor, he became a staunch supporter of gay poets, especially of new and emerging post-Stonewall gay poets, by not only publishing their work, but also offering his encouragement and literary expertise. He retired from Bay Windows in 2004 but continued working there as a part-time contributing editor. Kikel also contributed numerous journalistic writings to Bay Windows and other LGBTQ periodicals, such as The Advocate, Gay Philadelphia News, Gay Community News (Boston), and Gay Sunshine. They include works on a variety of LGBTQ-related topics and encompass literary criticism, social commentary, interviews, and critical reviews of books and theatre. For many years, in his steadfast support of gay poets, Kikel sponsored and often personally subsidized a series of readings of gay and lesbian poets, often held at the now defunct Glad Day Bookstore in Boston and featuring such distinguished poets as Richard Howard, Jane Barnes and Thom Gunn. He also organized several gay poetry readings for Boston's First Night festivities.

Kikel lived in the Boston area with his life partner of over two decades, Sterling Giles. They were married in 2012. He was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease in 2002 and also faced cancer. He died of a heart attack at his home on May 23, 2017.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Rudy Kikel papers, Ms. 2008.029, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Rudy Kikel in 2007 and of the Estate of Rudy Kikel in 2017.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Robert J. Rosa.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2018-01-02
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Separated material:	The books from the Rudy Kikel Papers are cataloged separately and can be found in the Brown University Library catalog under the heading: Rudy Kikel papers
Other information:	Brown University catalog record for this collection: Rudy Kikel papers

Inventory

---