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Poet Ned O'Gorman, 1970. Photo by Gisele
Freund. From the Georgetown University Special Collections.
Poet Ned O'Gorman, a man whom Shirley Hazzard describes as "impassioned,
accomplished, prodigious, unique," has donated more of his papers
to the Library's special collections. The Ned O'Gorman Papers
Part 2, recently processed, consist primarily of correspondence,
manuscripts, and notes. In addition to personal items, the collection
contains publicly viewable material from three major projects
that O'Gorman undertook.
In 1965 O'Gorman began work on a book for Random House that was
published under the title Prophetic Voices: Ideas and Words
on Revolution. He wrote letters to people across the country and
around the world explaining his idea and asking for their assistance
in finding "the free, young, unfamous, courageous mind...the
prophetic, revolutionary, visionary imagination." He received
many responses to his idea including letters from Peter Levi,
Henry Miller, Huston Smith, Susan Sontag, and Mark Van Doren.
The next project O'Gorman undertook was the organization of
a poetry reading which he called "Poets for Peace." The
event took place in New York City in 1967. O'Gorman received
correspondence regarding the event from poets including Daniel
Berrigan, Louise Bogan, Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Eberhart, Abbie
Huston Evans, Paul Goodman, Galway Kinnell, Denise Levertov,
Archibald MacLeish, Marianne Moore, Anais Nin, and Richard Wilbur.
The last large project cataloged as part of this collection
is O'Gorman's work on a biography of poet Allen Tate. Many of
Tate's friends and acquaintances recorded their memories of him
in letters to O=Gorman. Some letters to note are those written
by Robert Bly, William Condon, Laura Riding Jackson, Lincoln
Kirstein, Kathleen Raine, and Robert Penn Warren.
The collection also contains personal correspondence and scrapbook
items detailing O=Gorman=s travels, along with photographs of
O'Gorman and his son, Ricky. In 1966 O'Gorman opened a school
in Harlem that became known as the Children's Storefront, and
letters that he wrote to friend Sarah Lorimer between the years
1959 and 1986 offer wonderful descriptions of his school and
daily life in New York City. The tuition free school made a point
of welcoming all children living in the area. He also founded
and continues to direct the Ricardo O'Gorman Garden and Center.
Ned O'Gorman was born September 26, 1929 in New York City. His
poetry was recognized when he won Guggenheim Fellowships in 1956
and 1962 and when he won the Lamont Poetry Award in 1958. He
served as literary editor of Jubilee magazine from 1962 to 1965.
O'Gorman is the author of six books of poetry, four books of
prose, and numerous articles and poetry published in various
magazines. His most recent book of poetry is Five Seasons
of Obsession: New and Selected Poems. His recently completed memoir
will be published in the Spring of 2006.
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