Elaine Equi and Jerome Sala Papers
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Abstract
Elaine Equi and Jerome Sala are downtown poets who were active in Chicago's performance poetry scene. Both continue to write and publish their work. Elaine Equi teaches at New York University and in the Master of Fine Arts program at The New School. This collection contains correspondence with both Equi and Sala, poetry publications, audiovisual recordings of their works, and items from two recent exhibitions of Equi's work.
Biographical Note
Poet Elaine Equi teaches at New York University and in the MFA Program at the New School. She has written more than ten books of poetry, including Sentences and Rain and Click and Clone: Poems. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, she received a BA and an MA in English from Columbia College, where she taught a poetry workshop for several years after graduating. Along with her husband, Jerome Sala, she was active in Chicago's performance poetry scene.
Jerome Sala is the author of seven poetry collections, including recent publications Corporations Are People Too! and The Cheapskates. A native of Chicago, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. He and Equi later moved to New York where he received his doctorate in American Studies from New York University. He writes about cultural and media trends and criticism.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in three series: Series I: Correspondence and Personal Papers; Series II: Published Works and Publications; Series III: Exhibitions.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains correspondence, periodicals, poetry anthologies, self-published poems, exhibition guides, contracts, announcements, blog printouts, reviews, newsletters, interview transcripts, and oversize broadsides pertaining to Equi's and Sala's work from 1976 to 2012. It also contains their copies of their published works, CDs and a VHS tape recording of some of Equi's poems, and photographs from two later exhibits by Equi, "Votive Candy" and "A Guide to the Cinema Tarot."
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Elaine Equi and Jerome Sala Papers; MSS 204; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Elaine Equi in 2007.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Fales Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Materials were rehoused in archival folders and boxes, maintaining original order and labels when possible. Audiovisual materials were rehoused in archival cases.
Repository
Series I: Correspondence and Personal Papers
Scope and Contents
This series contains correspondence, manuscripts and drafts, clippings and event brochures, contracts and agreements, photographs of Equi and Sala, and a manuscript of Sala's doctoral dissertation for New York University. Among the correspondence are letters from poets John Ashbery and David Trinidad and from Alice Quinn, poetry editor at The New Yorker.
Correspondence, catalogs, early scrapbook, photos, newsletters, unpublished article, 1979-2006, inclusive
Manuscripts, new work, unpublished articles, clippings, photographs, press releases, Jerome Sala's "The Great Rematch", 1981-2007, inclusive
Correspondence, email printouts, birthday cards; conference, poetry reading, and event brochures and materials; contracts and agreements., 1992-1997, 2002-2012
Draft of Jerome Sala's poetry dissertation for NYU American Studies Department, 2007
Series II: Published Works and Publications
Scope and Contents
This series contains poetry anthologies and journals, exhibition catalogs, newsletters, magazines, and recordings of Equi's works. Included are copies of Equi's and Sala's published books, as well as publications edited by or containing works by Equi or Sala. This series also contains publications collected by Equi and Sala.
Includes Black & White, Greetings, Persephonic, Big Deal, Barney, Snap, Center, Stare, Temblor, Telephone, 1975-2001, inclusive
Includes cuz, Privates, Long News in the Short Century, Walk on the Wild Side, 1975-2003, inclusive
Includes Parnassus, Ploughshares, Whatever, Another Chicago Magazine, On the Bus, 1976-1999, inclusive
Includes Robert Zandvliet's the Varick Series, Praxis, Cover, Volt, Gas, Big Allis, Hair Trigger, 1977-2000, inclusive
Includes lacanian ink, Christy's Alpine Inn, OYEZ Revies, Juice, Brooklyn Review, Under 35, Paterns/Context/Time, 1977-2004, inclusive
Includes Skanky Possum, Virgin Mule, The World, b city, Diana's Fourth Almanac, Oink, 1977-2004, inclusive
Includes Central Park, Poetry International, banyan press ANTHOLOGY, Oulipo, Greetings, Mirage, Court Green, Bowery Women Poems, 1977-2007, inclusive
Includes Stare, Gnosis, Journal, Buhl Collection, 1979-2006, inclusive
Includes Poetry Project (edited by JS), Pome, Courier #1, Surface Tension, Paper Air, 1979-2007, inclusive
Includes Black Maria, b city, Helicopters over the Pyramids, Naming the Daytime Moon, Mississippi Review, Graffiti, the Tiny, 1980-2006, inclusive
Includes Gertrude Stein Awards, Coming Attractions, Saints of Hysteria, Conjunctions, Poet's Bookshelf, 1980-2007, inclusive
Includes Out of This World, Xcp, Chelsea, The American Voice, 1982-2003, inclusive
Includes Promethean, Sugar Mule, Forehead, Urbanus, Phoebe, 1987-2000, inclusive
Includes Little Caesar, Love Poems by Women, New American Writing, Will Work for Peace, 1990-2002, inclusive
Includes Aerial 9,Sulfur 27, Barrow Street; boundary 2, Caliban 14, Pressed Wafer, 1994-2005, inclusive
Includes Gargoyle, Insurance, Gulf Coast, Shiny, Blue Book Poetry, Diwan, Jack Spade, 1994-2007, inclusive
Includes This Full Green Hour, Why I Kick at Night, American Poets Against the War, Agriculture Reader, Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology, 2004-2009, inclusive
Includes Court Green, Visiting Wallace, Broome Street Review, Spectre, Blue Stranger with Mosaic Background, 2005-2012, inclusive
Includes Flagrant, Vanitas, Sometimes Things Seem Very Dark, 2007-2012, inclusive
Includes American Poetry Review, The Buhl Collection, Lit, In House, Ping Pong, Télérama, 2007-2012, inclusive
Printed works by Elaine Equi and Jerome Sala, 1978-2010, inclusive
Recorded works on CD, 1996-2004, inclusive
Video: Hanuman Presents!, 1999
Includes Praxis 5, Inside Chicago, Spin, Poetry Flash, Spin, 1987-2007, inclusive
Series III: Exhibitions and Graphics
Scope and Contents
This series contains color photographs and other materials from two recent exhibitions of Equi's work, Votive Candy and Cinema Taro. It also contains broadsides for events related to their work.
