Kim Robert Stafford collection

Given the variety and rarity of Stafford’s publications, this collection is remarkably complete to date (September, 1990). All of the books in this collection have been removed from the manuscript collection but are available in Rare Books.

Stafford has produced several books, including two for which he shares authorship with his father William Stafford: Braided Apart (1976) and That Meeting Place: Poems (1979). The collection also includes Stafford’s award-winning collection of essays, Having Everything Right (1986), as well as his latest collection of poems about local character, Places and Stories. Within this category are also two books which present some of Stafford’s ideas and examples about teaching writing: Twenty-three Ways of Holding Still and Thirty-Seven Ways of Holding Still: Poems Written at Wallowa School and Assignments as Given (1978), which contain exercises for grade school students supplementing the examples of the work of Stafford’s students from Idaho and eastern Oregon primary and secondary schools.

Books containing contributions by Kim Stafford date from 1983 through 1988. These include Stafford’s introduction to a collection of essays in honor of his advisor and Middle English scholar Stanley Greenfield, Modes of Interpretation in Old English Literature (1986). Also included is Idaho Place Names (1988) by Lalia Boone, which contains a poem by Stafford as the frontispiece.

Stafford is a prolific contributor to national and Northwest literary journals, many of which have had short lives on the market. The collection of journals with Stafford’s poetry includes 47 journals, some with several issues containing Stafford’s work. These range from well-know journals such as the Atlantic Monthly, Poetry Northwest, and the South Carolina Review, to rare issues of Permafrost, Mister Cogito, and other ephemeral periodicals. The earliest published poem in the collection dates from 1971-1972 ( Northwest Review), with the majority of entries dating from 1975-1980.

The section containing Stafford’s essays, articles, and reviews is represented by a collection of 15 periodicals. These include short stories and reviews, as well as articles about others, such as “He Found This Great Strength,” the Idaho Foxfire Network, which describes the last days of Lloyd Reynolds, scholar, artists, and friend of Stafford. This category also contains an interview with Kim Stafford about his writing ( Mossy Creek Journal, 1988).

James Henry kept a cross-reference index of all of Stafford’s poems and essays. Henry’s file is kept in the Special Collections Reading Room.

As an artist-in-residence, Kim Stafford often collected and published the work of his students in booklets. These are represented in the category of work edited by Kim Stafford and include rare copies of the poetry by students at Lewiston, Idaho (1975); Enterprise, Oregon (1978); Lincoln Junior High, Burns, Oregon (1980); Redmond, Oregon (1980); and Washington High School, Portland, Oregon (1981).

Three programs contain work by Kim Stafford. Cityfolk (1981) and Cowboy Poetry Gathering (1987 and 1989) feature Stafford’s essays.

Newspapers containing poetry and essays by Kim Stafford were collected by the donor. The majority of Stafford’s works are represented here in issues of The Oregonian or its supplement, Northwest Magazine, together with Stafford’s contributions to the Elko Daily Free Press and Fresh Weekly ( Willamette Week) dating from 1980 to 1989. Because the donor had Kim Stafford autograph nearly every entry of the collection, the original newspapers have been preserved and kept in a separate box at the end of the collection.

Whenever James Henry could not find original issues of journals or publications containing Stafford’s work, he obtained photocopies. Many of these copies duplicate original issues in the collection. The copies are represented in 21 titles and numerous issues.

Also included in the collection are undated press catalogues and flyers, as well as advertising postcards for Stafford’s own work or books and periodicals to which he contributed.

As director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, Stafford contributed regularly to the institute’s newsletter. In addition to newsletters from 1988 through 1990, the collection also contains flyers advertising workshops and events at the Institute from 1987 to 1989.

A few newspaper articles about Kim Stafford also appear in this collection and feature Stafford’s work as a judge in the Young Writers Fiction Contest (1988), as head of a conference on writing (1989), his award for Having Everything Right (1986), as well as other events in which Stafford participated.

James Henry and Kim Stafford began corresponding in March 1981 when Henry began a serious collection of Stafford’s work. Their correspondence currently includes letters through November 1989 and reveals the wide-ranging interest, activities, and jobs that Kim Stafford took on during this period, and the slow process of assembling the materials for this collection which required Henry’s persistence. A selection of James Henry’s letters to Kim Stafford, which were photocopies from Stafford’s files, is also included. This correspondence highlights the effort involved by the collector as well as the firm friendship and respect between Stafford and Henry in their struggle as writers.

Also included among the correspondence are James Henry’s replies from publishers to his requests for copies of their journals. These have been arranged according to publishers rather than by addressee to coordinate them with the publications in the collection. The inventory identifies the names of all correspondents.

Numerous photographs of Stafford appear throughout the journal and newspaper articles of this collection. Also available is one autographed 8 by 10 inch photograph of Kim Stafford and his father.

During the 1970s the Oregon Humanities Foundation produced a television series on Northwest Writers. A video featuring Kim Stafford as part of the Visiting Writers Series is included in this collection. An audiocassette recording of Stafford’s keynote address to the Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Nevada in January 1990 is also included.

Some of Stafford’s poetry has been printed in limited editions by others. The largest (18” x 24”) in the collection is the Breakwater Broadside Series I, which included Stafford’s “The Bears” (1980). “The Rocking Chair” (1980) and “A Woman and a Bear” (1985) also include illustrations.

Kim Stafford’s father, William Stafford, is a nationally acclaimed post whose work James Henry began collecting before he began collecting Kim Stafford’s work. Some of the periodicals include poems by William Stafford who has autographed most of them. These are listed in a separate category, although the publications may be found within he appropriate category of Kim Stafford’s work.

The works donated to this collection by Thelma Greenfield are of a personal nature, most dating from Stafford’s frequent contact with the Greenfields when he was a student at the University of Oregon. The one piece of correspondence, a letter dated June 13, 1989, contains a draft of one of Stafford’s essays. The remaining items, made during the early 1970s, include several broadsides and a small handmade book which features Stafford’s poetry and photographs taken by Stafford.