Joseph Brodsky Collection, 1970-2010 (bulk 1993-1994):
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Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Lori Satter. 2011-01-25
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Joseph Brodsky Collection
Creation of Joseph Brodsky Collection
Time of Creation of Joseph Brodsky Collection
Brodsky, Joseph
Biographical History for: Joseph Brodsky Collection
Biographical Note Joseph Aleksandrovich Brodsky, the Russian poet was born in Leningrad, U.S.S.R. on May 24, 1940 to Russian Jewish parents. His mother worked as a professional translator, and his father served as a photographer for the Soviet Navy. As a teenager, Brodsky taught himself English and Polish and began writing poetry at age eighteen. Famed Russian poet Anna Akhmatova encouraged his poetry when they met in 1960. In 1962, in Saint Petersburg, Anna Akhmatova introduced Brodsky to the artist Marina Basmanova, with whom he would have a son, Andrey. The U.S.S.R. government charged and arrested Brodsky in 1963 for “social parasitism” or failure to work. The government tried and convicted Brodsky in March of 1964. Successful protests led by Anna Akhmatova, Evgeny Evtushenko, Dmitri Shostakovich and Jean-Paul Sartre during Brodsky’s detention eventually reduced his sentence from five years of physical work in a gulag labor camp to eighteen months in Siberia. Upon release, the KGB ordered him to leave the country and sent him to Vienna. While in Vienna, Brodsky lost his citizenship and soon immigrated to the United States. Brodsky settled in Ann Arbor, with the help of poet W. H. Auden. During the 1972-73 academic year, Brodsky was Poet in Residence and Professor of English and Russian at both the University of Michigan and Queens College in New York. Initially connected to the Pioneer Valley through professional collaboration with Peter Viereck, Brodsky filled the position of Poet in Resident and Distinguished Acting Professor at The Five Colleges from 1974-1975, as well as filling the position of the first of The Five College Distinguished Visiting Professorships. In 1981, Brodsky received the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award and became a professor in the Five College Consortium, based in Amherst, Massachusetts. In 1982, Brodsky served as the Five College Professor of Literature at Mount Holyoke College. In 1986, he served as an Andrew Mellon Professor of Literature at Mount Holyoke College. Brodsky was granted United States citizenship in 1977. In 1978, Brodsky was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at Yale University. In 1979, he was inducted as a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and two years later received the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's "genius" award. Brodsky was a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence. In 1986, his collection of essays Less Than One won the National Book Critics Award for Criticism and he was given an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Oxford University. Brodsky received the National Book Award for criticism in 1986. In 1987 he was honored with the Nobel Prize for Literature. Brodsky married a student named Maria Sozzani in 1990 while teaching literature in France and they had one daughter, Anna. In September of 1991, he became the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress or as the award is more commonly know, U.S. Poet Laureate. Brodsky died in New York City at the age of fifty-five on January 28, 1996. Poetry Collections1965Stikhotvoreniia i poemy(Poems and Narrative Verse)1967Elegy for John Donne and Other Poems1968Velka elegie1970Ostanovka v pustyne(A Stopover in the Wilderness)1972Poems1973Selected Poems1977Konets prekrasnoi epokhi(The End of the Beautiful Epoch)1977Chast’ rechi(A Part of Speech)1977Poems and Translations1980A Part of Speech1981Verses on the Winter Campaign 19801982Rimskie elegii (Roman Elegies)1988To Urania : Selected Poems, 1965-19851990Primechaniia paporotnika(Commentaries of Fern)1995On Grief and Reason: Essays1995V okrestnostiakh Atlantidy(In the Environs of Atlantis)1996So Forth: Poems1996Peizazh s navodneniem(A Flooded Landscape) Essay and interview collections Essays and Plays1986Less Than One: Selected Essays1992Watermark1996On Grief and Reason: Essays Plays1989Marbles: a Play in Three Acts1991Democracy!
Scope and Contents of the Collection The papers of Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996) span the years 1972-1996, with the bulk of materials dating from 1993 to 1994. The collection is in English and Russian and is organized into the following series: Correspondence, Writings, Teaching Materials, Biographical Information, and Audio Visual Materials. The majority of which relate to poetry courses Brodsky taught as Professor of English while at Mount Holyoke College. Writings (1972-1996) include poetry published in the New Yorker. Writing include ssays published in the New Republic, Chronicle of Higher Education and the New Yorker, articles published in the New York Times Magazine and reviews published in the New York Times Book Review. Teaching Materials include 94 audio cassettes that capture all of his class lectures for Russian 230: Poetry in Translation: The Nineteenth Century taught in the spring of 1993, and English 265: Lyric Poetry taught in the spring of 1994 as a Mount Holyoke College English and Russian faculty member. Also included are 55 CDs that are digital surrogates of the original audio cassettes, as well as transcriptions from the lectures delivered Poetry in Translation: The Nineteenth Century. Also included in Teaching Materials are course catalog descriptions of Poetry in Translation: The Nineteenth Century and Lyric Poetry. There are course notes in Brodsky’s hand, copies of course readings and student work both graded and ungraded. These course materials document Brodsky’s teaching style and vast knowledge of the poetic genre. Biographical Information includes original and photocopies of Joseph Brodsky's published poetry, essays, articles and reviews in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, New York Times Book Review, the New Republic, Chronicle of Higher Education, New York Review and the New Yorker. Included are two interviews with Brodsky from 1986 and 1989, reflections from a former Mount Holyoke College student, Lynnette Labinger who visited Brodsky in 1970, articles that document Brodsky being awarded the Poet Laureate Consultant on Poetry to the Library of Congress or Poet Laureate in 1991, as well as programs and obituaries documenting Brodsky's death in 1996 and the Mount Holyoke College community memorial service held on February 20, 1996. Audio Visual Materials include 3 audiocassettes, 2 CDs, 3 VHS recordings, 1 reel of 35mm film and 1 DVD of lectures, readings, speeches and panel discussions given or led by Brodsky, as well as a Mount Holyoke College memorial service honoring Brodsky after his death in 1996 and an October 8, 2010 anniversary celebration sponsored by the Russian Studies Department on DVD.
Unrestricted
Arranged by Sarah Wilkinson and Patricia Albright. Finding aid and Encoding by Lori Satter, 2010
Authors and Publishers- United States
lcsh
College teacher- United States
teachers- United States
English teachers- United States
Lectures and lecturing-- Massachusetts
Poets laureate-- United States
Poets, Russian-- 20th century
lcnaf
Mount Holyoke College - Faculty.
Mount Holyoke College - English department.
aat
series
Correspondence
This series consists of one letter written on June 1, 1982 by Joseph Brodsky spent to George Brockway editor of W.W. Norton publishing house. In the letter Brodksy urges Brockaw to publish his colleague Peter Viereck's manuscript Applewood.
Unrestricted.
Writings
Creation of Writings
Time of Creation of Writings
This series contains an introductory essay written by Joseph Brodsky in 50 Poems by Osip Mandelstam published in 1977, typescripts of Brodsky's translation work on the poem To Urania published in 1980 and several poems published in the New York Times.
Teaching Materials
Creation of Teaching Materials
Time of Creation of Teaching Materials
This series includes 94 audio cassette recordings of Joseph Brodsky's lectures delivered as a Mount Holyoke College English and Russian faculty member in his courses Russian 230: Poetry in Translation: The Nineteenth Century taught in the spring of 1993 with transcripts, and English 265: Lyric Poetry taught in the spring of 1994. Also included are 55 CDs that are digital surrogates of the original audio cassettes, course catalog descriptions, lecture notes, course readings and student work.
subseries
Russian 230: Poetry in Translation: the Nineteenth Century
Creation of Russian 230: Poetry in Translation: the Nineteenth Century
Time of Creation of Russian 230: Poetry in Translation: the Nineteenth Century
English 265: Lyric Poetry
Creation of English 265: Lyric Poetry
Time of Creation of English 265: Lyric Poetry
Biographical Information
Creation of Biographical Information
Time of Creation of Biographical Information
This series includes original and photocopies of Joseph Brodsky's published poetry, essays, articles and reviews in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, New York Times Book Review, the New Republic, Chronicle of Higher Education, New York Review and the New Yorker. Included are two interviews with Brodsky from 1986 and 1989, reflections from a former Mount Holyoke College student, Lynnette Labinger who visited Brodsky in 1970, articles that document Brodsky being awarded the Poet Laureate Consultant on Poetry to the Library of Congress or Poet Laureate in 1991, as well as programs and obituaries documenting Brodsky's death in 1996 and the Mount Holyoke College community memorial service held on February 20, 1996.
Audio Visual Materials
This series consists of two 3 1/2 inch floppy discs containing Joseph Brodsky's course notes and records, one DVD recording of the 1985 Mount Holyoke College Commencement where Brodsky spoke as the ceremony's commencement speaker, 2 CDs recording panel discussions Brodsky participated in in 1985, a WGGB VHS television segment reporting Brodsky's Nobel Prize in Literature award in 1987, 3 audio cassette recordings of Brodsky reading his poetry, 1 VHS tape of A Maddening Space recorded for the New York Center for Visual History in 1991, 7 audio cassette recordings, 1 digital surrogate captured on CD of the Mount Holyoke College community memorial service honoring Brodsky on February 20, 1996 and 1 DVD recording of Mount Holyoke College's celebration of the 70th anniversary of Brodsky's birth that took place on October 8, 2010.
Correspondence June 1, 1982
Letter by Brodsky June 1, 1982
Writings 1972-1996
Essays and Articles, 1972-1996
Poems, 1973-1995
50 Poems, by Osip Mandelstam with an Introductory essay by Joseph Brodsky
Teaching Materials 1993-1994
Russian 230: Poetry in Translation: The Nineteenth Century Spring 1993
Course Descriptions for Russian 230 Poetry in Translation: The Nineteenth Century (Russian 230, Spring 1993) and Lyric Poetry (English 265, Spring 1994)
Handouts (English 265, Spring 1994)
Registers of audio recorded material for Russian 230, Graded student poems, Copies of poems, Handouts, Copies of reading list
Handouts, Yevgeny Baratynsky Spring 1993 (Russian 230)
Handouts: Gavrila Derzhavin, Mikhail Lomonasov, Antiokh Dmitriyevich Kantermir Spring 1993 (Russian 230)
Handouts: Alexander Pushkin Spring 1993 (Russian 230)
Transcript of Lecture: Introduction, January 28, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: "Bikini Course in Russian History", February 2, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Derzhavin I, undated
Transcript of Lecture: Poetic Meter in Roberst Frost, W.H. Auden and Gavrila Derzhavin works, February 9, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Gavrila Derzhavin's ("On the Death of Prince Meshchersky"), February 11, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Derzhavin's ("On the Death of Prince Meshchersky") continues, February 16, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Derzhavin's ("On the Death of Prince Meshchersky") continues, February 18, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Derzhavin's ("On the Death of Prince Meshchersky") continues,February 23, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Derzhavin's ("On the Death of Prince Meshchersky") continues, February 25, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Yevgeny Baratynsky's ("The Muse"), and an introduction to Mikhail Lomonosov, March 2, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Lomonosov's ("Evening Meditation"), March 9, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Antiokh Dmitriyevich Kantemir ("To His Own Verses"), March 11, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Discussion of Kantemir continues, March 25, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Baratnsky's ("Desolation"), March 29, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Alexander Pushkin's ("God grant that I not lose my mind"), April 6, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Baratnsky's ("To My Italian Tutor") April 8, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Baratnsky's ("To My Italian Tutor"), April 13, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Baratnsky's ("To My Italian Tutor"), April 15, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Concludes discussion of Baratnsky, discusses Dante and Virgil, April 20, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Pushkin's ("Monument"), April 22, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Pushkin's ("Again have I visited..."), April 27, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: Pushkin's ("Monument"), April 29, 1993
Transcript of Lecture: May 4, 1993
Janurary 28, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
January 28, 1993 Lecture, CD
February 2, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
February 2, 1993 Lecture, CD
February 9, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
February 9, 1993 Lecture, CD
February 11, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
February 11, 1993 Lecture, CD
February 16, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
February 16, 1993 Lecture, CD
February 18, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
February 18, 1993 Lecture, CD
February 23, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
February 23, 1993 Lecture, CD
February 25, 1993 Lecture (incomplete), Audiocassette
February 25, 1993 Lecture (incomplete), CD
February 25, 1993 Lecture (complete), Audiocassette
February 25, 1993 Lecture (complete), CD
March 2, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
March 2, 1993 Lecture, CD
March 9, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
March 9, 1993 Lecture, CD
March 11, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
March 15, 1993 Lecture, CD
March 15, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
March 29, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
March 29, 1993 Lecture, CD
March 30, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 1, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 1, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 6, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 6, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 8, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 8, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 13, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 13, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 15, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 15, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 20, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 20, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 22, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 22, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 27, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 27, 1993 Lecture, CD
April 29, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
April 29, 1993 Lecture, CD
May 4, 1993 Lecture, Audiocassette
May 4, 1993 Lecture, CD
Register of Audio Recordings for Eng 265: Lyric Poetry, Spring 1994
February 3, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, Audiocassette
February 3, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, CD
February 3, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, DVD
February 8, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, Audiocassette
February 8, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, CD
February 10, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, Audiocassette
February 10, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, CD
February 15, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, Audiocassette
February 15, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, CD
February 17, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, Audiocassette
February 17, 1994 Lecture on Poet Robert Frost, CD
March 8, 1994 Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, Audiocassette
March 8, 1994 Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, CD
March 10, 1994 Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, Audiocassette
March 10, 1994 Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, CD
March 17, 1994 Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, Audiocassette
March 17, 1994 Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, CD
Undated Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, Audiocassette
Undated Lecture on Poet Thomas Hardy, CD
March 29, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, Audiocassette
March 29, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, CD
March 31, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, Audiocassette
March 31, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, CD
April 5, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, Audiocassette
April 5, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, CD
April 7, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, Audiocassette
April 7, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, CD
April 12, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, Audiocassette
April 12, 1994 Lecture on Poet W. H. Auden, CD
April 13, 1994 LectureMiss Gee, In Memory of Sigmund Freud", Audiocassette
April 13, 1994 Lecture Miss Gee, In Memory of Sigmund Freud, CD
April 19, 1994 Lecture Auden, In Memory of Sigmund Freud, Audiocassette
April 19, 1994 Lecture Auden, In Memory of Sigmund Freud, CD
April 21, 1994 Lecture on Poet W.H. Auden, Sigmund Freud September 1, 1939, Audiocassette
April 21, 1994 Lecture on Poet W.H. Auden, Sigmund Freud September 1, 1939, CD
April 26, 1994 Lecture on Poets W.H. Auden and Rainer Maria Rilke Audiocassette
April 26, 1994 Lecture on Poets W.H. Auden and Rainer Maria Rilke, CD
April 28, 1994 Lecture on Poet W.H. Auden In Praise of Lime Stone, Audiocassette
April 28, 1994 Lecture on Poet W.H. Auden In Praise of Lime Stone, CD
May 3, 1994 Lecture on Three Polish Poets, George Herbet, and Czeslaw Milosz, Audiocassette
May 3, 1994 Lecture on Three Polish Poets, George Herbet, and Czeslaw Milosz, CD
Biographical Information ca. 1974-2003
January- February 1996
March 1996-
Peter Viereck's Recommendation Letter for Joseph Brodsky, October 23, 1973
Published interviews with Joseph Brodsky, 1987, 1989
Notes and Correspondence concerningConsersations with Joseph Brodsky in Leningrad, Russia, 1970
Exhibit Catalog, 2003
Photographs
Audio Visual Materials 1972-2010
Course related work, 3 1/2 inch floppy disc
Mount Holyoke College Memorial Service for Joseph Brodsky, February 20, 1996, Audiocassette
Mount Holyoke College Memorial Service for Joseph Brodsky, February 20, 1996, CD
Anniversary Celebration of Joseph Brodsky at Mount Holyoke College, October 8, 2010, DVD
Panel Discussion, October 16, 1985 (on 2 CDs)
Video Recording, 1987
Mount Holyoke College Commencement Ceremony, 1988, DVD
A Maddening Space Video Recording, 1991
Joseph Brodsky Reads His Poetryundated, Audiocassette
PJoseph Brodsky Reads His Poetryundated, Audiocassette
JosephVideo recording, undated
Unidentified 35mm film