Scope and Contents
The collection consists of correspondence, writings, writings of others, personal papers, photographs, printed material, audio recordings, electronic media, and other papers documenting the life and work of poet Mei-mei Berssenbrugge. Correspondence consists of letters from poets, writers, publishers, literary organizations, and others including John Ashbery, Charles Bernstein, Susan Bee, Ray DiPalma, Rachel Blau Duplessis, Ron Padgett, Arthur Sze, and Richard Tuttle. Writings consist of drafts, revisions, notes, mock-ups, proofs, publicity materials, and related correspondence for published works by Berssenbrugge; drafts of early poems; other writings by Berssenbrugge; and writings of others, including Barbara Guest, Arthur Sze, and others.
Dates
- 1955 - 2015
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Box 54 (audiovisual materials): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 55 (born digital): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Granary Books, Inc., on the Ruth Stephan Fund and the Alfred Z. Baker, Jr. Fund, 2015.
Arrangement
Organized into five series: I. Correspondence, 1967-2015. II. Writings, 1955-2014. III. Personal papers, 1955-2014. IV. Audiovisual materials, undated. V. Electronic media, 2005-2010.
Extent
45.72 Linear Feet (55 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Biographical / Historical
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (born 1947) is a Chinese-American poet. Winner of two American Book Awards, Berssenbrugge's work is often associated with the New York School and the Language poets. She is married to painter Richard Tuttle, a frequent collaborator.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections as they are acquired, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection or revisions in arrangement and description.
- American poetry -- 20th Century
- American poetry -- 21st century
- Ashbery, John, 1927-2017
- Audiovisual materials
- Bee, Susan
- Bernstein, Charles, 1950-
- Berssenbrugge, Mei-mei, 1947-
- Born digital
- DiPalma, Ray
- DuPlessis, Rachel Blau
- Guest, Barbara, 1920-2006
- Language poetry
- Padgett, Ron, 1942-
- Poets -- United States -- 20th century
- Poets -- United States -- 21st century
- Poets, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Poets, American -- 21st century -- Archives
- Sze, Arthur
- Tuttle, Richard, 1941-
- Title
- Guide to the Mei-mei Berssenbrugge Papers
- Author
- by Beinecke staff
- Date
- May 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.