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Gwyneth Lewis Papers
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Gwyneth Lewis Papers

  • GB 0210 GWYNETHLEW
  • Fonds
  • [c.1965]-2011

Literary and personal papers of Gwyneth Lewis, comprising poetry, prose, correspondence, notes and other professional and private material accumulated throughout her life from her school and college years until 2011, with some gaps.

Lewis, Gwyneth, 1959-

March 2011 Purchase

Literary work, correspondence and other papers relating to Gwyneth Lewis's life and work, especially the first few decades of her life and her emergence as a writer.

‘Discarded poems’

Typescript drafts of poems, with manuscript emendations, marked by Gwyneth Lewis as 'discarded' and not included in the volumes of her published collections, including one or more variants of 'In the Dead of Winter', 'The Bachelors of Balephuil', 'Elegy', 'Maenclochog', 'In the Snow Queen's Palace', 'Spring at the Leper House Allotments', 'First Haunting', 'Dalton's Geranium', 'The Cut of Women's Clothes', 'Leaving America', 'Consider the Crinoid', 'First Aid', 'A Welcome to East Oxford', 'Manhattan Night', 'Death and the Maiden', 'Take Care', 'In the Greenhouse', 'Cwm-hir Abbey', 'Homesick in Summer', 'The Glad-Grower's Daughter', 'The Muse of Morganwg', 'On the Air', 'Open Door', 'A Love Alphabet' and 'In Central Park'.

Zero Gravity - reviews and correspondence

Photocopied and published press reviews of Gwyneth Lewis's volume of poetry entitled Zero Gravity, with related publicity material including lists of contacts for reviews and the launch, copies of published poems by other poets, and copies and offprints of published articles about female poets and Welsh poets; correspondence between Gwyneth Lewis, publishers, agents, friends and the BBC concerning Zero Gravity (originally entitled Coconut Postcards), and in particular publication, the poems, proofs, contractual matters, publicity, distribution, royalties, reviews, broadcasts and performances, as well as other literary and personal business; together with a typescript transcript of a radio interview with Les Murray about Gwyneth Lewis’s work, and a contract and a catalogue from Bloodaxe Books; and related notes, photographs and press cuttings.

Sunbathing in the Rain

Correspondence between Gwyneth Lewis, agents and friends concerning Sunbathing in the Rain: a cheerful book about depression,
including the development of the book and reactions to its publication, as well as literary, personal and social matters, together with copies of press reviews of the book and interviews about it, guest lists for the launch, publicity material, a published copy of the book and a published extract from it, and related notes.

Letters from Gwyneth Lewis

Draft manuscript letters and photocopies of letters written by Gwyneth Lewis to family, friends and literary and academic associates concerning personal, social, literary, musical and academic matters relating to her time as a student at Balliol College, Oxford; also included are newsletters of the Oxford Poetry Society and a photocopy of a manuscript review of ‘Mynd lawr i’r nefoedd’ by Menna Elfyn that was written by Gwyneth Lewis for publication.

Personal papers

Papers comprising Gwyneth Lewis's work at school and with the Urdd, most of it of a literary nature, together with papers relating to the financial aspects of her literary work as a professional writer.

School, Urdd and college work

School, Urdd and college work by Gwyneth Lewis on literary themes, including folders, exercise books and notebooks containing manuscript and typescript poems, essays, exercises, projects and notes relating to her own compositions, which were mostly produced as school work or for competitions, as well as Welsh and English literature more generally, together with eisteddfod entry forms and adjudications, press cuttings, a few notes on other school subjects, and some poetry composed by Marian Lewis.

November 2011 Purchase

Literary work, correspondence and other papers relating to Gwyneth Lewis's life and work, especially in the period during and after her emergence as a writer.

Literary work

Papers relating to Gwyneth Lewis's poetry, prose, dramas, operas, academic research, public appearances and other literary work.

Sparrow Tree, A Hospital Odyssey, and other poems

Annotated typescript and manuscript drafts of poems written by Gwyneth Lewis for publication in journals and in her collections published as Sparrow Tree, A Hospital Odyssey, Zero Gravity and Parables and Faxes, and also for broadcast on BBC Radio, some of them under more than one working title, including ‘A Hospital Odyssey’, ‘Aeolian Harp’, ‘Alternative Island’, ‘Amgueddfa Genedlaethol y Glannau, Abertawe’, ‘Apology to Peter Porter’, ‘Appointment’, ‘Aran’, ‘Arthur’s Talk with the Eagle’, ‘As Long as you Want / Improvisations on Sappho’, ‘Basic Knitting’, ‘Birder’, ‘Blue Tit / Titmouse / Tit’, ‘Bow Tie / Bowtie’, ‘Bricks in Bars’, ‘Broken Plates’, ‘Broken Star’, ‘Cân yn y Cywair Lleddf’, ‘Crazy Quilt’, ‘Crosses and Losses’, ‘Crosses’, ‘Diagonal Triangles’, ‘Double Wedding Ring’, ‘Elegy for Shambo’, ‘Epistle to C P Snow’, ‘Experimental Knitting / Applied Mathematics’, ‘Field Guide to Dementia’, ‘Finches / What finches say ad nauseam’, ‘Fractals’, ‘Glas’, ‘Gull’, ‘Heroine’, ‘Hike’, ‘Homecoming’, ‘Horizon with People’, ‘Hosiery’, ‘How to knit a poem’, ‘Humming Bird Project / Project Joy’, ‘Hypnosis Knitting’, ‘Imaginary Walks in Istanbul’, ‘Inheritance’, ‘Late Starter’, ‘Lattice’, ‘Log Cabin’ / ‘Barn Raising Variation (Crib quilt)’, ‘Love Poem’, ‘Lundy’, ‘Map’, ‘Memorial’, ‘Murmuration’, ‘My Wales’, ‘Nightingale / Outside Broadcast (for Mark Cocker)’, ‘Nine Patch’, ‘No design’, ‘No Sparrow Ode’, ‘No Sparrow’, ‘Nuclear Family’, ‘Ocean Waves (for AJ)’, ‘Old Maid’s Puzzle’, ‘One and a Half Square Miles’, ‘Our Body’, ‘Pattern Pornography’, ‘Philosophy’, ‘Pine Trees (Crib Quilt)’, ‘Praise birds’, ‘Prayer for Horizon’, ‘Prologue from Zero Gravity’, ‘Quantum Island’, ‘Quilting for Childless Women’, ‘Railroad Crossing’, ‘Remission Flamenco’, ‘Remission Sevillanas’, ‘Reply to the Haka’, ‘Riddle: Definition of a Harp’, ‘Roman Strip[e] Variation (Crib quilt)’, ‘Roman Stripe’, ‘Sarcophagus / Mausoleum’, ‘Sea Virus’, ‘Secret Report from the Pharmaceutical Lab’, ‘Silk Knitting’, ‘Sliver’, ‘Small Brown Job’, ‘Sol and Nemesis / Nemesis (for Tsevi Mazeh)’, ‘Some common Invaders’, ‘Spectrum’, ‘Speculation / Sparrows / Fall of a Sparrow’, ‘Splinter / Splinters / Zeal’, ‘Stonechat (for Richard Scorer, psychiatrist)’, ‘Sunken Garden at Radcliffe / Sunken Garden’, ‘Taxonomy’, ‘Tension Square’, ‘The Family Knitting Book’, ‘The Feeder (In memory of Megan Tanner / Elegy for an Aunt)’, ‘The Sparrow Tree / What Sparrows Might Mean’, ‘The Symbolism of Ancient Sweaters’, ‘Thirty-Six Patch Variation (Crib quilt)’, ‘Trees of California’, ‘Triangles’, ‘Tumbling Blocks’, ‘Unnamed Pattern (Crib quilt)’, ‘Voice / Llais’, ‘Warning’, ‘What Do Birds Say?’, ‘What the red kite saw’, ‘Y pwynt’, ‘Zebra’ and others, with related notes. Also included are: manuscript copies of an untitled poetry / drama / musical script by Gwyneth Lewis about dolphins in Cardigan Bay; notes and literary quotations collected by her for ‘A Hospital Odyssey’, and also on quilt vocabulary; a photocopy of an article by her (‘Letter to the poet I might I might have been’); copies of emails to her concerning social and literary matters, notably the possible publication of parts of ‘A Hospital Odyssey’ in the Paris Review; typescript copies of poems by members of the Girton Poetry Group; and a family postcard.

Prose, drama and opera

Drafts of prose, drama and operatic librettos by Gwyneth Lewis, together with materials relating to research, publication and performances.

Two in a Boat - research

Press cuttings, photocopies of articles, booklets, leaflets and notes accumulated by Gwyneth Lewis during her research for Two in a Boat, all relating to nautical and maritime matters except for some material from the John F. Kennedy Space Center, and arranged by her into folders labelled 'Ports', 'Piracy', 'Cardiff', 'Boats + ships', 'Shipwrecks + difficulties' and 'Cruising'.

Clytemnestra

Manuscript drafts, and typescript drafts with manuscript annotations, of two plays by Gwyneth Lewis forming 'a new version of the Clytemnestra story', comprising ‘The Slaughterhouse : Play 1 of 2' (originally entitled ‘The Kill Floor’) and 'Deathbed : Play 2', inspired by the character of Clytemnestra in Aeschylus's Oresteia, together with manuscript notes.

Redflight Barcud and Dolffin

Papers relating to Gwyneth Lewis’s composition of the librettos ‘Redflight Barcud’ and ‘Dolffin’ as part of an operatic trilogy entitled ‘Land, Sea, Sky’ that was performed by Welsh National Opera and primary school children with the intention of engaging children with environmental issues, comprising: a publisher’s proof of Gwyneth Lewis’s score for ‘Barcud’ (later re-named ‘Redflight Barcud’), with related material including a project prospectus, design notes, event programmes and promotional literature; and material relating to ‘Dolffin’, including event programmes, a leaflet and press cuttings.

The Most Beautiful Man from the Sea

Event programmes and cuttings of press reviews (some of them sent to Gwyneth Lewis) relating to The Most Beautiful Man from the Sea, an opera for which Gwyneth Lewis composed the libretto having been inspired by a short story by Gabriel García Márquez, and which was performed by Welsh National Opera and community groups at venues throughout Wales including the Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

Radio and television

Papers relating to BBC radio and television talks, performances and interviews featuring Gwyneth Lewis, including ‘Voyage to Lundy’, ‘Sailing without a boat’, 'Cerddi Cilycwm', ‘The stone that moved’, ‘Poetry Please’ and ‘Great lives - Emily Dickinson’, comprising typescript and manuscript scripts with annotations by Gwyneth Lewis and BBC staff; together with correspondence between Gwyneth Lewis and BBC staff concerning 'Cerddi Cilycwm', ‘The Verb’ and a proposed semi-dramatisation of ‘A Hospital Odyssey’; as well as an award certificate for Gwyneth Lewis’s ‘In search of the Gododdin’ (BBC Wales) from Fèis nam Meadhanan Ceilteach (Celtic Media Festival) in the Hebrides; and notes and press cuttings relating to scripts, recording, broadcasts, accommodation and expenses.

Publications and reviews

Papers relating to publications by Gwyneth Lewis and her reviews of the published work of other poets, including: a copy of a publication agreement between her and Harvard Review concerning her poem ‘Sunken Garden’; a letter to her from literary agents concerning the agreement between her and Poetry Wales Press relating to The Meat Tree; correspondence between Gwyneth Lewis, agents and the editor concerning the publication of an Italian anthology of her work; a copy of her poem ‘Pluck’, commissioned by the Prince of Wales; copies of a typescript draft foreword by Gwyneth Lewis, with manuscript annotations and related notes, for Doctor Marigold's prescriptions, an edition of the work of Charles Dickens; a photocopy of PN Review proofs of ‘Links: A knot of poems’ by Gwyneth Lewis; a copy of PN Review with poems from Sparrow Tree; offprints of review articles from Taliesin by Gwyneth Lewis and T. James Jones relating to the poetry of Menna Elfyn; and a review copy of Sound Archive by Nerys Williams with manuscript notes by Gwyneth Lewis.

Translation

Papers relating to Gwyneth Lewis’s work as a translator, including: manuscript notes by her for a talk on translation between Welsh and English at a conference at Jesus College, Oxford, with an associated event programme; a letter to her from Martin Orwin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, concerning the translation of poetry from Somali into English, with copies of examples; printed examples of poetry translated from English into German; and related notes, offprints and photocopies of articles.

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