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William Goyen letters

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0078
Finding aid note: Stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains 6 letters, and a postcard and envelope (letter missing) from William Goyen to Mark Bradlyn. Also included are photographs of Goyen taken in his Hollywood office and a business card from a Chinese restaurant. An unsent letter form Mark Bradlyn to Goyen is also included in the collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1978-1979

Creator

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Stored onsite at the Woodson Research Center.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish material from the William Goyen letters must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biographical Note

Charles William Goyen, author, editor, and teacher, was born in Trinity,Texas, on April 24, 1915 and moved with his family to Houston at the age of eight. He received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Rice University (then Institute) in 1937 and 1939, respectively. After teaching for one year at the University of Houston, he left to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Returning after five years, he left Houston to pursue his work as a writer, residing at various times in New Mexico, Europe, New York, and California. His East Texas origins, however, were to have an enduring influence on the speech patterns and cultural characteristics reflected in his writings. His first novel, House of Breath, was published to critical acclaim in 1950. Subsequent publications included the novels In a Farther Country (1955), The Fair Sister (1963), and Come the Restorer (1974); Selected Writings (1974); short story collections Ghost and Flesh (1952), The Faces of Blood Kindred (1960) and The Collected Stories (1975); the non-fiction A Book of Jesus (1973); and plays The House of Breath (1956), The Diamond Rattler (1960), Christy (1964), House of Breath Black/White (1971), and Aimee (1973). He also created lyrics for the film Left-Handed Gun (1958) and served as translator for The Lazy Ones by Egyptian author Albert Cossery.

In addition to being a writer, he was instructor of English at the New School for Social Research in New York City, 1955-60; Associate in English at Columbia University, 1964-66; senior editor in the trade department at McGraw Hill, 1966-71; and visiting Professor of English at Brown University, 1973. He married the actress Doris Roberts in 1963.

Among awards he received were music awards for words and music from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (A.S.C.A.P.) in 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, and 1971; an award from the Texas Institute of Arts and Letters, 1950; and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Rice University in 1977. He was a Guggenheim fellow in 1950 and 1952 and a Ford Foundation grantee in 1963-64. He died in Los Angeles of leukemia in August 1983, two months before his novel "Arcadio "was published. Since then a number of his other late works have been edited and published.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

This collection contains 6 letters, and a postcard and envelope (letter missing) from William Goyen to Mark Bradlyn. Also included are photographs of Goyen taken in his Hollywood office and a business card from a Chinese restaurant. An unsent letter form Mark Bradlyn to Goyen is also included in the collection.

Acquisition Information

This collection was a gift donated by Mark Bradlyn on February 13, 2007.

Related material

See also William Goyen papers, 1937-1978, MS 360, http://library.rice.edu/collections/WRC/finding-aids/manuscripts/0360.

Title
Guide to the William Goyen letters, 1978-1979
Status
Completed
Date
2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA
713-348-2586