Fantasy Magazine papers

The Fantasy Magazine Papers document the life of a "little magazine" dedicated principally to "free verse" poetry. The papers consist of correspondence, manuscript submissions, photographs, clippings, printed works, and financial and legal documents. The papers span the years 1929 to 1979, with the bulk of material falling within the years of the magazine's publication, 1932-43.

The collection is housed in 10 boxes and consists of three series: I. Correspondence; II. Manuscript Submissions; and III. Other Papers. Box 9 contains oversize material from Series III. Box 10 contains restricted fragile papers.

Series I, Correspondence (Boxes 1-4) covers the years 1931-79 and documents the interaction between Fantasy's editor, Stanley Dehler Mayer, and contributing writers, subscribers, editors of other little magazines, and publishing houses. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters from writers hoping to be published in the magazine. A significant number of the remaining letters are from persons concerned with the survival of the magazine, either subscribers, fellow publishers, or literary aficionados.

The majority of letters from writers submitting their work are brief, direct queries which occasionally include personal information about the writer. Kenneth Patchen's letters discuss his submissions and inquire about the status of Mayer's induction into the army. Harvey Breit, a friend of Patchen's, mentions the poet in his own letters. Harry Roskolenko's correspondence discusses versions of his work submitted to Mayer and suggests friends who would be likely to submit work or subscribe to Fantasy. Other correspondents include: Carl Burkland, writing about his love of Keats and Whitman; Herman Salinger, who translated poems by Rilke and Christian Morgenstern for Fantasy; Joseph Joel Keith, writing from Hollywood about his achievements and those of associates Kathleen Sutton, Don Blanding, and Irl Morse; Regis Kausler, who suggests that Fantasy become formally associated with the [Walt] Whitman Society of America; and LeGarde S. Doughty, who forwarded a copy of a letter he sent to William Carlos Williams refuting observations Williams made in "To Write American Poetry," an essay published in Fantasy. The letters of Pauline Frances Stephens and Eleanor Tawnley contain digressions on subjects other than poetry, particularly Stephens's discussion of the vanity of poets and Tawnley's description of a flood in Cincinnati.

A second subject of correspondence concerns publication of the magazine. Letters can be found from Charles Henri Ford, publisher of View, from Ada McCormick, publisher of Letter, and from Bennett Cerf, who replied to Mayer that a novel about a jazz band would be "virtually negligible" in 1940. Mayer's work in introducing Latin American writers to North American readers can be traced in letters from the Pan American Union, the Coordinator for Inter-American Affairs, and the Committee on Cultural Relations with Latin America, all correspondents who directed Mayer to worthy poets and writers. Lloyd Mallan, who corresponded independently in addition to his service with the Committee on Cultural Relations with Latin America, suggests that Mayer could increase his rapport with his growing Latin American clientele if he improved his language skills. A professional correspondent who seems to have had more personal connections to Mayer and his wife, Portia, is Grace K. Wellington. Her letters concerning her publication, Troubadour, branch out into more diverse topics. A 1935 letter discusses her opinions of other little magazines, most specifically the implications of getting published in the Communist-inspired New Masses. The letter then goes on to provide gardening tips.

Series II, Manuscript Submissions (Boxes 5-7), consists of works sent to Stanley Mayer to be considered for inclusion in Fantasy. The series contains poetry, essays, reviews, and short stories, most of which are undated. The poetry ranges from the evenly measured stanzas of Stanton Coblentz to the meandering constructions of Clark Mills. Alex Comfort writes about war and the passage of time, while Waring Cuney made terse transcriptions of black dialects. Included here are Kenneth Patchen's multipart "Seven Poems About the Way to Go Out of the World"; Lloyd Mallan's collection of poems, "A Tear for the Virgins of Mind and Soul"; and a corrected copy of Kenneth Rexroth's "For Andrée Rexroth." Other poets represented include: Edgar Lee Masters, Eve Merriam, Robin Lampson, Oscar Williams, Haniel Long, and Joseph Leonard Grucci. Among the Latin American poets are Pablo de Rokha, Jacinto Fombona Pachano, Pablo Neruda, and Regino Pedroso.

Essays submitted include Carmelo Bonet's work on Latin criticism, "Apuntaciones sobre el Arte de Juzgar" [translated], Arundell del Re on Ezra Pound; Charles Glicksberg on "Proletarian Poetry in the United States"; and James Hargan's "Convict Poets," which was used in an issue of Fantasy that featured poetry by prisoners. Book reviews were contributed by, Winfield Townley Scott, Wallace Stegner, and Arthur E. DuBois. William Carlos Williams contributed a commentary on Kenneth Patchen's The Journal of Albion Moonlight. The short fiction selected for Fantasy consisted mainly of narratives by the likes of James T. Farrell, Weldon Kees, Gilbert Nieman, Meridel LeSeur, and Jean Temple. Of the Latin American contributions, Enrique Mendez Calzada's "Christ in Buenos Aires" was featured in one of the final issues of Fantasy.

Series III, Other Papers , contains newspaper clippings and a small number of miscellaneous items, such as bills, receipts, copyright certificates, and two photographs. The clippings were taken from publications which mentioned Fantasy or which included material by Fantasy's contributors. Such publications include the Augusta Chronicle, the Columbia, Ohio Dispatch, the New Mexico Sentinel, the Pittsburgh Press, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Box 9 contains Oversize material from Series III. Included are copies of The New Day, a newspaper published in the Ohio State Reformatory, and clippings from the New York Times, the Bulletin Index, and the New Mexico Sentinel.