Beth Singer Bentley papers, 1943-2013

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Bentley, Beth
Title
Beth Singer Bentley papers
Dates
1943-2013 (inclusive)
Quantity
8.08 cubic feet (8 boxes)
Collection Number
6220 (Accession No. 6220-001)
Summary
Correspondence, poems and fiction manuscripts, published works, travel and literary notebooks, class and curriculum materials, sound recordings of readings, and project files from a poet and writing teacher from Seattle
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access for the textual materials. In the case of sound recordings, no user copies exist and users must arrange to have recordings transferred to digital format.

The collection is stored off site. Advance notice is required for use.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Beth Singer Bentley was born on October 7, 1921 in St. Paul. She was educated at the University of Minnesota (B.A., 1943) and received an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and English from the University of Michigan (1946). She won the Hopwood Award (for fiction) in 1948 while continuing graduate studies at Michigan. She moved to Seattle in 1952, where she married her fiance George Nelson Bentley, newly hired as a UW assistant professor.. Beth Bentley taught in the Northwest and elsewhere for over thirty years, including the course "Writing Contemporary Poetry" at the University of Washington from 1980 to 1992. She also founded and directed the Northwest Poets' Reading Series at the Seattle Public Library, where it ran from 1960 to 1974. Her poetry has been widely published in journals and anthologies, including The New Yorker, Poetry, The Atlantic, Paris Review, Poetry, The Nation, Saturday Review, and The Sewanee Review.

Beth Bentley's poetry collections include: Little Fires, Cune Press, 1998; The Purely Visible, SeaPen Press, 1980; Philosophical Investigations, SeaPen Press, 1977; Country of Resemblances, Ohio University Press, 1976; Field of Snow, Gemini Press, Seattle, 1973; Phone Calls From the Dead, Ohio University Press, 1972. Her awards and honors include: Montalvo Award, 1987; Washington State Governor's Award for Phone Calls From the Dead, and for Country of Resemblances; Northwest Bookseller's Award for Phone Calls From the Dead; National Endowment of the Arts fellowship, 1976/77.

Beth Bentley selected and edited The Selected Poems of Hazel Hall, published by Ahsahta Press. She has translated a number of contemporary French poets, which were published both in the U.S. and in Canada. She was a fellow of the NEA in 1978 and that same year she and her husband Nelson Bentley were invited to read at the Library of Congress.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Correspondence, poems and fiction manuscripts, published works, travel and literary notebooks, class and curriculum materials, sound recordings of readings, and project files (Bronte Sisters play, Hazel Hall project, translations of French women poets, anthology of American women poets).

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyrights retained by creator. Contact University of Washington Libraries Special Collections for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Preservation Note

The collection is stored off site. Advance notice is required for use.

Acquisition Information

Sean Bentley

Related Materials

Nelson Bentley Papers, 1915-1990.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
1 Bronte Sisters Play - Bronte Play Research Materials & Bronte Society 1994-1996
1 Bronte Sisters Play - Bronte Play Correspondence 1995-1997
1 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak, Radiant Angel!" Drafts & Notes 1995
1 Bronte Sisters Play - Branwell Bronte Research Materials
1 Bronte Sisters Play - "Haworth" Drafts & Notes 1980-1994
1 Hazel Hall Project - Hazel Hall Article Drafts 1980
1 Hazel Hall Project - Hazel Hall Research Materials & Correspondence 1987-1990
1 Hazel Hall Project - Hazel Hall Materials 1975-1979
1 Hazel Hall Project - Hazel Hall Selected Poems Publication 1980
1 Hazel Hall Project - Correspondence 1991-1992
1 Hazel Hall Project - Ahsahta Correspondence & Others 1979-1981
1 Hazel Hall Project - Hall Letters 1989-1990
1 Hazel Hall Project - Hazel Hall Material for Symposium & Grant 1977-1999
1 Hazel Hall Project - Griefs Forsaken: Letters from Hazel Hall
1 Hazel Hall Project - "Hunting for Hazel" Hazel Hall Bio Notes & Materials, Drafts 1989-1997
1 Hazel Hall Project - Saul & Braithwaite Letters & Materials 1989
1 Letters & Correspondence - Miscellaneous Correspondence from Poets 1943-1993
1 Letters & Correspondence - Correspondence from V. Watkins 1964-1968
1 Letters & Correspondence - Correspondence Rolfe Humphries 1966-1975
1 Letters & Correspondence - Correspondence Sandy McPherson 1973-1990
1 Letters & Correspondence - Letters from Leonie Adam Troy 1963-1968
1 Letters & Correspondence - Jean Garrigue Correspondence & Poems 1970-1972
1 Letters & Correspondence - Miscellaneous Correspondence and PHOTOS 1972
1 Published Works - Poetry Publications 1941-1965
2 Published Works - Poetry PUblications 1966-1972
2 Published Works - Poetry Publications 1972-1989
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Haworth" Drafts & Notes 1980
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak, Radiant Angel!" Correspondence 1995
2 Bronte Sisters Play - Assorted Photocopies of Scenes (Bronte Plays) 1994
2 Bronte Sisters Play - Lord Byron Research
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak, Radiant Angel!" Drafts & Notes
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak, Radiant Angel!" Draft 1995
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak, Radiant Angel!" Submission 1996
2 Bronte Sisters Play - TFA Submission 1998
2 Bronte Sisters Play - Trinity Repertory Co. Submission 1998
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak…" Drafts
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak…" Master Drafts & FLOPPY DISK 1996
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak…" Submission Correspondence 1996-1997
2 Bronte Sisters Play - "Speak…" Notes 1995
2 Poems & Fiction - "La Belle Bergere"
2 Poems & Fiction - "Missing Addresses" Manuscript
2 Letters & Correspondence - Misc. Correspondence 2008-2010
2 Resume & Reviews 1988
3 Poems & Fiction - Poetry & Fiction Copies
3 Poems & Fiction - "Missing Addresses" Ballard Library Reading 2006
3 Poems & Fiction - "Is There Anybody There Said the Traveler" 2007-2008
3 Misc. Notes 1997-2012
3 Notebooks - Poetry Transactions Notebook 1990-2010
3 Notebooks - Dream Journal (with pressed plants) 1986-1999
3 Notebooks - Daily Journal
3 Notebooks - Personal Journal 1993-1998
3 Notebooks - Misc. Notebooks 1993-2002
3 Notebooks - Personal Journal 1966-1967
3 Notebooks - Personal Journal 1967
3 Notebooks - Thayer Street Journal 1948
3 Notebooks - Misc. Notebooks 1974-2013
4 Notebooks - Working Notebooks 1992-1994
4 Notebooks - Poetry Transactions Notebook 2009
4 Notebooks - Diary 1970-1985
4 Notebooks - Assorted Mini Notebooks
4 Notebooks - Poetry Transactions Notebook 2009-2010
4 Notebooks - Working Notebooks
4 Notebooks - Travel Notebooks 1977-1997
4 Critical Articles - NY Times Book Reviews Clippings 1971-1973
4 Letters & Correspondence - Permission Correspondence 1984-1997
4 Letters & Correspondence - Copyright Material Sent to Library of Congress 1998
4 Reviews - Reviews of her books 1998-1999
4 Women Poets
4 Autobiography - Autobiography & Publication 1988
4 Letters & Correspondence - Correspondence 1971-1978
4 Letters & Correspondence - Poetry Copyright Releases & Permissions 1973-1975
5 Travel Writing: Brittany/Venice 1992
5 Poems & Fiction - First Monologue 1993
5 Published Works - Country of Resemblances Memorandum of Agreement 1975
5 Published Works - Published Poetry
5 Letters & Correspondence - Correspondence 1976-1977
5 Reviews - Poetry Reviews 1972-1976
5 Published Works - Phone Calls From the Dead Memorandum of Agreement 1969
5 Published Works - Poem: Hawthorne 1994
5 Events - Ten Poets Seattle 1962
5 Poems & Fiction - La Belle Bergere
5 Poems & Fiction - Missing Addresses
5 Poems & Fiction - Poems 2010-2011
5 Poems & Fiction - Is There Anybody There Said The Traveller
5 Poems & Fiction - Out of Body
5 Poems & Fiction - Arachne & Other Poems 1960-1970
5 Poems & Fiction - Letters to Lost Children
5 Personal Scrapbook of Poems & Clippings
5 Published Works - Phone Calls From the Dead Personal & Annotated Copy 1971
5 Letters & Clippings in Book/Note from Richard Wilbur 1971-1979
5 Published Works - Field of Snow 1973
5 Published Works - A Poet's Dozen: Fourteen Poems by Northwest Poets 1966
5 Published Works - Country of Resemblances 1976
5 Published Works - Little Fires 1998
5 Poems & Fiction - Miscellaneous Poems
5 Poems & Fiction - Poems from 1960s & 1970's 1960-1970
5 Poems & Fiction - Very Early Poetry 1969
5 Poems & Fiction - Posthumus Letters 1982
5 Poems & Fiction - Misc Poems
5 Poems & Fiction - Early Poetry 1958
5 Poems & Fiction - The Frozen Lake
5 Poems & Fiction - Codex to the Flight of Birds
5 Poems & Fiction - In the Hotel Garden Posters numbered 6 & 12-24 of 150 1998
5 Events - Ballard Library Reading 2006
6 Notebooks - Old Working Notebooks 1957-1963
6 Misc. Papers & Loose PHOTOS
6 Nightingale & The Rose Radio Adaptation 1943
6 Events - Women's History Week 1985
6 Residencies for Writers/The Endowment Experience 1978
6 Walkers of Air: Women Poets in America
6 Events - Readings 1975-1998
6 Poems & Fiction - Misc. Poetry 1970-1984
6 French Translations - Dominique Grandmont Translation 1983
6 Notebooks - Notebook 1968
6 Critical Articles - Jean Garrigue: The Binding Element 1974
6 Hunting for Hazel
6 Poems & Fiction - Misc Poems 1970-1990
6 French Translations - Joyce Mansour Translations
6 French Translations - Marguerite Duras Translation 1981
6 French Translations - Four French Women Poets 1984
6 French Translations - Claude de Burine Translation
6 Poems & Fiction - Misc Poems
6 French Translations - French Translation
6 French Translations - Translation Publications 1981
6 French Translations - Marie Claire Bancquart 1982
6 French Translations - The Horse With Angel Hair
6 Letters & Correspondence - French Correspondence 1979-1986
6 French Translations - Dominique Grandmont Reviews & Letters 1984-1986
6 French Translations - Annie Salager Translation
6 French Translations - Dominique Grandmont Translation
6 French Translations - The Horse With Angel Hair 1984
7 Poems & Fiction - La Belle Bergere 1979
7 French Translations - Marguerite Duras Translation 1981
7 French Translations - Edith Boissannas Translation
7 French Translations - Joyce Mansour Translations
7 Bronte Sisters Play - Bronte Play
7 Notebooks - Notebooks 1974-1992
7 Notebooks - Notebooks 1976-1980
7 Notebooks - Notebooks 1978-1981
7 American Women Poets - American Women Poets Correspondence 1973
7 Critical Articles - Jean Garrigue: The Binding Element 1974
7 Reviews - Calyx Correspondence (Reviews) 1984-1985
7 Critical Articles - Garrigue Materials & Drafts
7 French Translations - Camille Claudel Materials
7 American Women Poets - Women Writers Materials
7 Letters & Correspondence - Publisher Correspondence 1951-1959
7 Events - Pacific Northwest Poets & Poetry Northwest Readings & Conferences 1959-1968
7 American Women Poets - Essays on Women Writers 1989
7 Curriculum & Class - Surrealism
7 Curriculum & Class - Death Discussed
7 Curriculum & Class - Class Materials
7 Curriculum & Class - Class Materials 1972-1991
7 Poems & Fiction - Short Story: Quartet
7 Poems & Fiction - Short Story: Cheer of Passion
7 Poems & Fiction - Short Story: Martir For To Seke
7 Poems & Fiction - Short Story: The Humorist in New York
7 Poems & Fiction - Story: The Stumbling Heart
8 Reading Recordings - Cactus Poets VHS TAPE
8 Reading Recordings - UW Poets Celebrating Nelson Bentley Tape 1 CASSETTE TAPE 1990
8 Reading Recordings - UW Poets Celebrating Nelson Bentley Tape 2 CASSETTE TAPE 1990
8 Reading Recordings - UW Poets Celebrating Nelson Bentley Tape 3 CASSETTE TAPE 1990
8 Reading Recordings - Nelson
8 Reading Recordings - Drilervier with Stafford Side 1 Only
8 Reading Recordings - Reading by Beth Bentley at Portland for be Gale 1993
8 Reading Recordings - Beth Bentley: Poet Recorded at HCC 1972
8 Reading Recordings - Beth Reading Le Vice-Counsul
8 Reading Recordings - Beth Bentley Distinguished Poet Series 1995
8 Reading Recordings - In Celebration of Nelson Bentley Reading List of contributors 1990
8 Reading Recordings - Thank You Card Distinguished Poet Series 1995

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Poets, American--20th century--History--Sources
  • University Archives/Faculty Papers (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Bentley, Beth--Archives
  • Bentley, Beth--Sources
  • Bentley, Nelson
  • Hall, Hazel, 1886-1924

Family Names

  • Brontë̈ family

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • University of Washington. University Archives (creator)
    • University of Washington. University Archives