Carol Bergé:

An Inventory of Her Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Biographical Sketch

Carol Bergé, born in 1928 in New York City, is primarily a poet and fiction writer. She was educated at New York University, 1946-1952, and at the New School for Social Research, 1952-1954. Bergé worked as a journalist and editorial assistant during the 1950s for such organizations as Simon and Schuster and Forbes magazine. In 1970 she founded Center, a magazine for innovative fiction, and was its sole editor until its demise in 1981. Other journals she has edited include The Mississippi Review, 1977-1978, and since 1980, Shearsman.

She has lectured extensively since the 1970s at such universities as the University of California at Berkeley, Indiana University at Bloomington, and the State University of New York at Albany. She has been a board member of numerous organizations such as P.E.N., Poets and Writers, and the Modern Language Association. Bergé has also been awarded numerous literary honors. These include the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation fellowship (1964), several fellowships-in-residence at the McDowell Colony, and a National Endowment fellowship for creative writing (1979).

Bergé was a prominent figure in New York's East Village poetry scene of the late 1950s and 1960s. Her work could be characterized as including"Beat" and early feminist elements, but reflects such diverse influences as Chaucer, Shakespeare, D. H. Lawrence, Dylan Thomas, William Carlos Williams, and Pablo Neruda. Bergé was involved with poets of the San Francisco poetry renaissance as well as poets of the Deux Magots, Le Metro' cafe, and participated in the multi-media "happenings" which characterized New York's East Village poetry scene. She was involved in the origins of the poetry series at St. Mark's in the Bouwerie Church in Greenwich Village, which continues to introduce and support contemporary poets. In this capacity, and as very much a part of an urban avant-garde, she helped organize a number of important benefits and conferences.

A selection of her early poems was included in Imamu Amiri Baraka's (LeRoi Jones) 1962 anthology, Four Young Lady Poets. Her later poems were frequently anthologized and appeared in numerous important little magazines of the 1960s-1980s, as well as in journals such as Poetry and The Nation. In 1964 the first of a dozen chapbooks, The Vulnerable Island, was published. Her early prose pieces, The Vancouver Report and An Informal Chronograph of Some New York Poetswere published by small presses in 1964 and 1965. The two chapbooks, Poems Made of Skin and Circles, As in the Eye were published in 1968 and 1969. Following the publication of short stories and prose in 1971, Bergé published From a Soft Angle: Poems About Women, which reflected a trend towards women's issues as a focus in writing. Since the 1970s, Bergé has tended to move toward poetic prose and fiction. In 1981 she published a collection that includes short fiction pieces entitled One Page Novels. In 1984 she published her first novel, Secrets, Gossip and Slander.

For further information on the life and writings of Carol Bergé, see: Hayden Carruth, in Hudson Review (New York), 1969; Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series,Volume 7; Contemporary Poets (1985); Feminist Companion to Literature (1990); Allen de Loach (ed.), The East Side Scene (1972); Howard McCord, in Measure (Pullman, Washington), 1970; Ishmael Reed, in Washington, D C. Post, 1973.

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Scope and Contents

The Carol Bergé Papers, 1960-1969, include drafts, notes, manuscripts, galleys, and page proofs of her works, plus correspondence, research materials, clippings, and contracts. The manuscripts for the two chapbooks, Poems Made of Skin (1968) and Circles As in the Eye (1969) are found in this collection, as are those prose pieces that focus on local histories of contemporary art/literary scenes and trends. The bulk of the collection consists of Bergé's extensive correspondence with friends, writers, and editors. Also included here are notes and press releases for the numerous benefits in which Bergé participated or organized. The remainder of the collection includes manuscripts by other authors, most of which were gifts to Bergé. The materials found in this collection document Bergé's work and life prior to 1970.

In addition to Bergé's own work and life, the papers touch upon several subject areas: the poetry of the “Beats,” the San Francisco poetry renaissance, the New York East Side scene (especially the Deux Magots poets) and early modern feminist trends in poetry. This collection could also be an important source for information on the numerous poets and editors with whom Bergé corresponded. Significant correspondents include: Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Nelson Ball, Paul Blackburn, Jerry Bloedow, Robert Creeley, David Cunliffe, Edward Dahlberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, George Hitchcock, David Ignatow, Lenore Kandel, Denise Levertov, Gordon Lish, Walter Lowenfels, W. S. Merwin, David Ossman, Ezra Pound, Margaret Randall, Tom Raworth, Kenneth Rexroth, Ed Sanders, Diane Wakoski, and Louis Zukofksy. A complete list of correspondents can be found at the end of this guide.

The collection is arranged in four series: Works, 1960-1969 (1.5 boxes), Poetry Readings, 1961-1967 (1 box), Poetry Manuscripts Collected, nd (0.5 box), and Correspondence, 1960-1969 (2 boxes). While the materials have been arranged into these series, the order of material within folders has generally not been disturbed.

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Restrictions

Access

Open for research

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Acquisition

Purchase, Gotham Book Mart, 1969

Processed by

John Minniece, Eric Speas, Revised January 1994 by David Hatfield Sparks

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Carol Bergé Papers--Folder List

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 Carol Bergé Papers--Index of Correspondents 

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