Summary

Creator:

Crowe, Thomas Rain

Abstract:

Poet, essayist, translator, publisher, activist, and performing artist; owner and editor of New Native Press in Cullowhee (Jackson Co.), N.C. Crowe's collection contains correspondence with other writers, friends, and relatives; manuscript and printed versions of works by Crowe and others; poetry notebooks; publicity materials; photographs; audio cassettes and other media; New Native Press records; and other items. Other poets represented include Wendell Berry, Robert Bly, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Joy Harjo, David Meltzer, Philip Daughtry, Neeli Cherkovski, Gary Snyder, Bobi Jones (Welsh), Jack Hirschman, Ken Wainio, Dianna Henning, John Lane, and Joe Napora. There is documentation regarding Crowe's music, including collaborations with Nan Watkins. There is also material regarding San Francisco intellectual circles and the International Poetry Festival held there, as well as correspondence concerning activism regarding a wide range of political and social issues. Acquired as part of the George Washington Flowers Collection of Southern Americana.

Extent:

112.5 Linear Feet
36.2 Gigabytes

Language:

Material in English.

Collection ID:

RL.10018

Background

Scope and Content:

Collection contains correspondence with other writers, friends, and relatives; manuscript and printed versions of works by Crowe and others; poetry notebooks; publicity materials; photographs; audio cassettes; New Native Press records; and other items. Figures represented include Wendell Berry, Robert Bly, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Joy Harjo, David Meltzer, Philip Daughtry, Neeli Cherkovski, Gary Snyder, Bobi Jones (Welsh), Jack Hirschman, Ken Wainio, Dianna Henning, John Lane, and Joe Napora. There is also material regarding San Francisco intellectual circles and the International Poetry Festival held there, as well as correspondence concerning activism regarding a wide range of political and social issues.

Unprocessed additions (from 2006 through 2022) have been described as individual series with box lists in the collection guide. Materials include correspondence, New Native Press published books, original drafts and manuscripts, recordings, posters, book cover art and proofs, and galleys. Includes material related to the publication of Automatic Antiquity (Ken Wainio), Shaking the Grass for Dew (Richard Lewis), In the Middle Woods (Neeli Cherkovski), and rEdlipstick (Ted Pope). Also includes materials from various translations and anthologies featuring Crowe's edits and contributions; recent books by Crowe such as Zoro's Field: My Life in the Appalachian Woods, Crack Light, Rare Birds, The Watcher, A House of Girls, The End of Eden, Book of Rocks, The Brucciano Poemsarticles; interviews, appearances, and reviews by Crowe; documentation of Crowe's music with Thomas Rain Crowe and the Boatrockers; materials from Crowe's community and environmental activism in Tuckasegee, NC; color and black-and-white photographs; music, poetry, and video on audio cassettes, CDs, videocassettes, and computer diskettes or USBs.

Biographical / Historical:

Thomas Rain Crowe is a poet, author, essayist, translator, publisher, activist, and performing artist. He is the founder of the New Native Press and Fern Hill Records, a record label devoted to poetry-music collaboration. Crowe is also a founding member of the spoken-word and music band The Boatrockers, and has authored 12 original and translated works. (Taken from NewNativePress.com.)

Acquisition Information:

The Thomas Rain Crowe Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase and gift from Thomas Rain Crowe from 2000 to 2023.

Processing information:

Accessioned by Meghan Lyon, December 2008 and Rachel Penniman March 2013.

Encoded by Meghan Lyon, December 2008.

Updated by Meghan Lyon, February 2011 and February 2013, Rachel Penniman March 2013, RL TS 2015, and Laurin Penland May 2017, January 2020, February 2021. Updated by Leah Tams, February 2023.

This is a preliminary finding aid for an unprocessed collection. Materials have been reboxed, but no further arrangement has been completed at this time. Please contact Research Services with questions.

Accessions described in this finding aid: 2000-0178, 2006-0075, 2008-0288, 2011-0001, 2013-0032, 2015-0100, 2017-0022, 2018-0181, 2019-0178, 2020-0069, 2021-0128, 2022-0153, and 2023-0057.

Rules or Conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:

Small presses -- North Carolina
Poetry, Modern -- 20th century
American poetry -- 20th century
Poets, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence
American poetry -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area

Formats:

Photographs
Audio recordings.

Names:

New Native Press
Napora, Joe, 1944-
Snyder, Gary, 1930-
Wainio, Ken, 1952-2006
Henning, Dianna
Hirschman, Jack, 1933-
Jones, Bobi, 1929-
Lane, John
Crowe, Thomas Rain
Watkins, Nan

Places:

San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.) -- Intellectual life