Eve Triem was born in New York City on November 2, 1902. Triem grew up in San Francisco and attended the University of California at Berkeley. She married Paul Ellsworth Triem, a writer, in 1924 and they moved to Dubuque, Iowa in 1936. They moved to San Francisco in 1956, where they resided until moving to Seattle in 1960. They had two children, Yvonne and Peter. Paul Triem died in 1976.
Eve Triem began writing poetry in earnest in 1936. While in Dubuque,
Triem studied Greek classics at the Presbyterian Seminary at the University of
Dubuque, and began to translate Greek poems. Some of her translations were
published as
Triem was a friend of e.e. cummings, lectured about his poetry and
wrote a pamphlet about him,
Many of Triem's poems were written for her husband of 51 years.
Triem's work appeared in many literary periodicals and anthologies, and she gave many readings and lectures. In 1984, she won a Western States Book award for lifetime achievement. Her published collections of poems are:
Eve Triem died in 1992.
Arranged in 4 accessions:
Correspondence, literary manuscripts, photographs, publications, ephemera, tape recordings; 1921-1999 (bulk 1943-1984).
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Eve Triem papers. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, Washington.
Triem's letters to her husband Paul have been placed in the "Triem, Paul Ellsworth" series, and his letters to Triem are in the "Incoming letters" series. Incoming letters from editors and publishers are filed under the name of the publication when they concern business, but filed under the correspondent's name when they are personal. Some exchanges of correspondence are divided between the two categories.
Many of the poems were received in notebooks. Some of these notebooks were collections of poems accepted for publication or poems already published. Since this system was inconsistent and not well maintained, a decision was made during processing to break up the notebooks and integrate the poems into one alphabetical sequence.
Records stored offsite; advance notice required for use.