Robert Podgurski papers

Finding Aid

Prepared by Fred Previts, November 25, 1998; Last Updated: April 2020

Inclusive Dates: 1984-1998
Extent: 1 cubic foot (1 record storage box)
Physical Location:  11th floor

Biographical Note: Robert Podgurski was born on June 6, 1961 in southwestern Pennsylvania and attended the University of Pittsburgh. While there he studied creative writing under Richard Blevins (whose papers are also housed at Kent State University's Department of Special Collections and Archives). After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983 Podgurski then attended the University of Colorado where he helped to develop the university's John Dee archives on microfilm. After receiving an MA in English Literature from the University of Colorado in 1990 Podgurski began working on a PhD. in English at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and then transferred to the University of Cincinnati. In 1997 Podgurski and his wife Barbara moved to North Carolina where he lives and writes.

Podgurski has had two books of his poetry published and his poems have appeared in a number of publications. Podgurski's poetry reflects his interest in magic and alchemy and is influenced by the works of Robert Duncan, Jack Spicer, and Gerrit Lansing.

Scope and Content: The collection includes notebooks containing poetry and other writing; drafts and proofs of works; published works of poetry; correspondence from the poet Gerrit Lansing; and microfilm copies of John Dee's manuscripts from the Bodleian and Ashmolean Libraries in England.

Arrangement

• Series I : Correspondence (folders 1-5)
• Series II : Notebooks containing poetry and other writing (folders 6-9)
• Series III : Drafts and proofs of works (folders 10-13)
• Series IV : Published works (folders 14-15)
• Series V : Microfilm copies of John Dee's manuscripts.

Aquisition Information: This collection was donated by Robert Podgurski to the Department of Special Collections and Archives in 1997.

Box 1
Folder--Contents

1. Correspondence from Gerrit Lansing, 1985-1989
2. Correspondence from Gerrit Lansing, 1990-1991
3. Correspondence from Gerrit Lansing, 1992-1993
4. Correspondence from Gerrit Lansing, 1994-1995
5. Miscellaneous Correspondence
6. Notebook, 1984-1988
7. Notebook, 1986-(1988?)
8. Notebook, 1988-1989
9. Notebook, 1989-1991
10. Draft of There is a Safe Tower, 1985
11. Proof of There is a Safe Tower, 1985
12. Draft of The Poetic Spell of Dr. John Dee and Sir Edward Kelly's Angelic Art, 1990
13. Miscellaneous Drafts
14. Published works -- Stepping In Between, 1984; There is a Safe Tower, 1985
15. Published works -- Italian Quarterly, Winter/Spring 1998