Michael Rothenberg Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS 2018-002

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Personal papers of Michael Rothenberg, including drafts of works by Rothenberg; press clippings, broadsides, and other publications collected by Rothenberg on his work as a poet, author, songwriter, and botanist; sound recordings and audiovisual recordings documenting studio and live performances of works by Rothenberg; and correspondence, textiles, and artifacts documenting the work and life of San Francisco beat poet Philip Whalen.

Dates

Other: Date acquired: 00/00/2018

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is in process, and portions remain unavailable to researchers at this time. Please contact FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives for more information about access to this collection.

This collection is in an offsite storage location. Please contact lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu with requests for access or for more information.

Boxes 17 and 30 may be accessed at the Claude Pepper Library.

Biographical Note

Michael Rothenberg was born in Miami Beach, Florida. Rothenberg moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1975. While there, Rothenberg published, edited, and contributed to dozens of collections of poetry, literary reviews, and poetic journals. Rothenberg is co-founder of the international activist group 100 Thousand Poets For Change, as well as the charity Poets In Need. As of 2018, he continues to serve as editor and publisher of Big Bridge Press. As of 2016, Rothenberg moved to Tallahassee, Florida in 2016, and died there on November 21, 2022, after an extended bout of lung cancer.

Philip Whalen was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat generation. Whalen was born in Portland, Oregon on October 20, 1923. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and earned a BFA from Reed College in 1951. Afterwards he relocated to San Francisco. On October 7, 1955, Whalen read at the Six Gallery reading, a significant event in Beat generation history. In 1973 he became a Zen monk, and eventually head monk at the Hartford Streen Zen Center in San Francisco. Whalen died in San Francisco on June 26, 2002.

Note written by R. Grennan

Extent

0.00 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement Note

unarranged; in process

Sources and Methods of Acquisition

Initial purchase agreement with Michael Rothenberg executed March 2018.

"Kerouac Peacoat" (Box 30) accepted on deposit in February 2019.

Philip Whelan transmission papers (Box 17) accepted on deposit in January 2020.

Jonathan Kane Collection donated by Kane family in July 2020.

Method of Acquisition

Purchase Agreement

Related Materials

The web archive of the site for 100,000 Poets for Change, an international educational grassroots organization focusing on the arts, especially poetry, music, and the literary arts. 100TPC events take place simultaneously around the world in September of each year.