Scope and Content Note
The papers of Milton Kessler (1930-2000) span the years 1959 to 1999 with the bulk of the materials from the years 1964-1996. The papers are organized in the following series: Correspondence , Notebooks , Professional File , Family Papers , Oversize , and Digital Files .
The Correspondence series spans the years 1959-1999 and primarily contains letters received with a partial set of copies and drafts of Kessler's replies. The correspondence documents Kessler's career as a poet and teacher as well as his family life and close personal relationships. Correspondents consist chiefly of fellow writers and academic colleagues along with editors, publishers, former students, visual artists, and friends. The correspondence with fellow writers and creative artists includes drafts of their work offered for commentary and advice, ideas for projects, and reflections on their creative life, their careers, and other artists. Kessler's longstanding friendships with fellow writers A. R. Ammons, Gerry Crinnin, Clayton Eshleman, Daniela Gioseffi, David Ignatow, John Logan, Heather McHugh, W. D. (William Davis) Snodgrass and multidiscipline artist and farmer Scott Chaskey span more than two decades and chart the development of both personal and professional relationships. Other notable correspondents include writers Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Bly, Basil Bunting, Babette Deutsch, Philip Dow, Donald Hall, James Lewisohn, James Liddy, Jackson Mac Low, Tom McKeown, Ralph J. Mills, A. Poulin, Jr., Mary Bernetta Quinn, Jerome Rothenberg, Philip Schultz, and Primus St. John. Also of interest is his correspondence with artists from other disciplines including composers T. J. (Thomas Jefferson) Anderson and Karl Korte and visual artists, Sidney Chafetz, Rose Graubart Ignatow, Robert E. (Robert Ernst) Marx, and Gregory Masurovsky.
While Kessler primarily identified as a poet, he considered teaching his vocation. He was a professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton for over thirty years and was instrumental in founding its creative writing program, serving as director for several years. Correspondents from his years at SUNY-Binghamton include friends and fellow professors Ken Jacobs, Liz Rosenberg, John Vernon, and John David Walker and former students Molly Peacock, George Quasha, Arthur Tobias, and Camille Paglia. Paglia considered Kessler a master teacher and included an essay in her book Sex, Art, and American Culture detailing the profound effect his teaching had on the development of her own teaching style. Her defense of Kessler after SUNY-Binghamton fired him in the mid-1990s is documented in several letters. Her support along with that of many other prominent writers and colleagues resulted in Kessler being reinstated by the university and demonstrated the high regard in which he was held both as a teacher and poet.
Kessler also taught at various institutions throughout the United States and the world including Belgium, England, Japan, and Israel. The correspondence from Kessler's multiple terms at the Universiṭat Ḥefah and Universiṭat ha-Negev in Israel documents Kessler's connection to the country and the centrality of his Jewish roots to his poetry, family, and religious life. Correspondents from this period include friends, students, and academics such as Leila Alexander, Adam Schonbrun, and Stephen Ely Tabachnick.
Other subjects covered in the Correspondence series include Kessler's efforts to get his poetry published, his experience at retreats such as Yaddo, and correspondence from editors, publishers, and others in the literary community including Fran McCullough and Galen Williams. For related correspondence, researchers should consult the Notebooks series, the Choice magazine file in the Professional File series, and the Family Papers series.
The Notebooks series spans the years 1965-1997 and includes eighty-six notebooks and notebook fragments. Kessler used them to record impressions and inspirations from his daily life, first drafts of poems, lecture ideas, and correspondence drafts. The notebooks also served as a diary to capture personal reflections on mortality, suffering, marriage, fatherhood, and his life as a writer and teacher. These reflections are the source of the major themes and subject matter of his poetry. Kessler also used the notebooks as a file folder for loose notes, to-do lists, exhibit brochures, and programs. For the most part, the poems in these notebooks represent the early stages of his writing process. After composing an initial draft, Kessler generally produced a typed version and made copies for further editing by hand. These can be found in the Professional File in the working drafts files. The notebooks include many unpublished poems and original correspondence along with drafts of Kessler's replies.
The Professional File spans the years 1959-1999 and is organized into the following four subseries: Writings File , Choice magazine file, Teaching File , and Miscellany . The Writings File contains materials associated with his poetry volumes, individuals poems, essays, research, and works by others. The files for his books Called Home, Free Concert, The Grand Concourse, A Road Came Once, and Woodlawn North are comprised of manuscript proofs and galleys, drafts of poems selected for the books, and promotional material. Kessler dated his drafts only intermittently and worked on many poems over decades. Therefore, the creation and completion dates of the poems are difficult to discern. The individual poem files contain copies of any signed and dated poems found in the Notebooks series and working drafts files. Many of these poems are unpublished. The Working drafts file contains poems begun in the Notebooks series. Kessler would group the typed versions of poems in piles, his initial attempt at organization and refinement of the works. It appears Kessler would draw from the sets of poems in the working drafts folders when working on his books.
The Choice magazine file includes correspondence, submissions, acceptances, legal papers, and galley proofs. Significant correspondents include Thomas Trantino, a convicted murderer, poet, and artist. Trantino illustrated Choice 9, a volume featuring the work of prison inmates. The correspondence, submissions, and acceptance files have examples of work from Margaret Atwood, Willis Barnstone, Millen Brand, Gene Frumkin, Isabella Gardner, Robert Hazel, Richard Hugo, Shirley Kaufman, Galway Kinnell, S. L. Poulter, William Stafford, and Frances Whyatt.
The Teaching File contains course materials, reports, memoranda, student work, research notes, and printed matter primarily from his years as a professor at SUNY-Binghamton along with materials from his terms as visiting professor at institutions in Israel and Hawaii. Of particular note are the introductions and speeches containing drafts of his opening remarks for readings by visiting poets and lecturers. The Teaching File also includes Kessler's research and course material on Walt Whitman. The Miscellany File contains a biographical file, clippings, photographs, and subject files.
The Family Papers series spans the years 1960-1999. The bulk of the series is correspondence, both sent and received. The series also includes handwritten notes from Kessler to his immediate family providing insight into his marriage to Sonia Berer and his dedication to fatherhood including his efforts to convey a sense of Jewish identity and religious tradition to his children.
The Digital Files series spans the years 1991-1995 and consists of ninety-one files created on a 1991 Apple SE computer. The files are in an undetermined text format and are comprised primarily of unpublished poems with a few correspondence files.