Note: This brief collection description is an accession record. The
collection is not fully processed or cataloged; no biographical sketch,
descriptions of series, or indexes are available.
Acquisition: Purchase, 2006 (Reg. 15421)
Access: Open for research
Processed by: Hope Donovan Rider, 2007
RLIN Record
ID: None
Series I. Works comprises the bulk of the collection. It is divided into three subseries: A. Novels and Short Story Collections; B. Short Works; and C. Journals and Notepads. Subseries A. contains drafts of all of Katz's published works, as well as many unpublished works, including his first novel, "The Steps of the Sun," and a travel book about China called "Jade Pork." The drafts are primarily typescripts, although there are some handwritten sections and corrections included. There are often multiple copies and versions of individual stories and novel sections. The works are arranged alphabetically by title.
Subseries B., Short Works, contains drafts and tearsheets of short stories, poetry, and short non-fiction pieces.
The journals and notepads in Subseries C. represent the early drafts and include notes for many of Katz's works. The notebooks contain story ideas, draft sections, and journal entries and are arranged in rough chronological order, although there are a number of undated journals. Along with the undated notebooks the collection contains the yellow legal pads Katz used while writing early longhand drafts of his works. These notepads do not have titles or dates, and are arranged in the order in which they were received.
Series II. Correspondence is divided into two subseries: A. Family Letters; and B. Personal and Professional. Subseries A. includes many letters sent by Katz and his wife Pat to his mother during the late 1950s when he was working on his first (unpublished) novels, and the early 1960s while the family lived in Italy and Katz taught at various universities and army bases. Also present are letters sent by his father to his mother.
Subseries B. Personal and Professional contains correspondence from his agents, including Lurton Blassingame and Georges Borchardt, as well as correspondence from other writers, artists, and personal friends. Of note is a letter written by Véra Nabokov for Vladimir Nabokov, who was a professor at Cornell during Katz's time as a student. Some of the authors and artists represented are A. R. Ammons, Peter Dean, B. H. Friedman, Jerome Klinkowitz, Harold Schimmel, Primarosa Cesarini Sforza, Ron Sukenick, and Richard tum Suden. These files are filed alphabetically by last name. Katz also kept a large amount of miscellaneous correspondence, some of which was labeled with titles such as "Friendly fire," and "Friendly fun." These files were placed at the end of the alphabetical files and are arranged roughly by date. The correspondence in these files is primarily from friends and acquaintances, some of whom may be represented in the alphabetical files; there are some career-related materials present as well.
The materials in Series III. Personal and Career-Related contain professional awards, reviews of Katz's works, and photographs. The photographs include several folders of pictures taken for an "aborted car photograph piece," Katz in his Boy Scout uniform, and slides taken on family vacations to Spirit Lake at Mt. St. Helens, and Ashland, Oregon in the late 1950s. Also included are Katz's diploma from Cornell University, and reading announcements.
Series IV. Works of Others includes works by friends, colleagues, and students, such as Mark Leyner, as well as interviews with and works about Katz. Also present are notebooks containing an apparent autobiography written by his father, Alexander Katz, and one folder with drawings by Katz's youngest son, Rafael.
Books and audio recordings received with the collection have been transferred to the appropriate departments within the Ransom Center.
Box Folder Description
43 FICTIONS (short stories, 1991) 1 1 "The Attack of the Conceptual Artists," typescript 2 "Looped in Oaxaca" and "Taking the Cave Man Seriously," typescripts and published versions in GUEST EDITOR, edited by SK, vol. 1, no. 1, Winter 1984 3 "Why I Left Emile," typescript with corrections ANTONELLO'S LION (novel, 2006) 4-6 Typescript 7-10 Typescript with illustrations 11 Bunkers (play), typescript CHEYENNE RIVER WILD TRACK (poetry, 1973) 2 1 Typescript 2 Typescript photocopy 3 Agent's photocopy 4 Proofs 5 Chicago Needs Snow (screenplay), typescript CREAMY & DELICIOUS (short stories, 1970) 6 Note cards 7 "Blossoms," typescript and photocopies 8-9 "In Our Thyme," typescripts, photostatic proofs 10 "Kelly," typescript carbon and photocopy 11-12 Mythologies, typescripts and photocopies 3 1 "Nino," typescript carbon 2 "3 Satisfying Stories," typescripts and photocopies 3-6 Typescript sections 7-8 "Setting copy," edited typescript * Galleys (*removed to galley folders) 9* Photograph proofs (*oversize photographs removed to box 43) THE EXAGGGERATIONS OF PETER PRINCE (novel, 1968) 10 Partial typescript sections 4 1 Typescript segment, with letter from Peter Schjeldahl, undated 2 Partial typescript 3-4 "Column cut" typescripts 5-9 "Original ms with original graphics" 10* Graphics (*oversize photograph moved to box 43) 11 Graphics and jacket copy typescript 12 Book jacket mock-up 13 "Some Exaggerations of Peter Prince," offprints from CHICAGO REVIEW, vol. 18, no. 364 14 Reviews FLORRY OF WASHINGTON HEIGHTS: A NOVEL (novel, 1987) 5 1 Typescript 2-3 "Working ms," corrected typescript From the Childhood of Marcus Morocco (short stories) 4-6 Typescript, undivided, 3 copies 7 Typescript, divided into stories, "1 each" 8 Story typescripts, multiple copies 9 "From the Childhood of Marcus Morocco," story typescript, agent's copy 10 "From the Childhood of Marcus Morocco," "The Immortality of Rita Moll," story typescripts Galoshes: A Novel by Stephanie Gatos Jr. as told to Steve Katz (novel) 6 1-2 Early typescript 3-4 Revised typescript with handwritten changes 5-6 Revised typescript 7 Typescript, revised 1997 8 Illustrations by Rafael Katz 7 1-2 Typescript with illustrations 3-4 Typescript with illustrations, photocopy 5 HEX (early title Grass Land, screenplay, 1973) revised first draft, May 1971 In the House of the Whales (novel) 6-7 Early draft, typescript 8 Typescript with handwritten changes 8 1 Typescript Jade Pork (travel essays) 2-3 Typescript photocopy 4 "Choo choo China," typescript photocopy 5 "Getting to the Greatness of the Wall," typescript 6 "Imagining Guilin," typescript 7 "Introduction," and "Jade Pork," typescripts 8 "Postscript: Marrying the Barbarian," typescript 9* "Processing Pooches," typescript photocopy; "China Women," typescript photocopy, published version in ROLLING STOCK, nos. 12 and 14, 1987 (*removed to oversize box 43) 10 JOURNALISM (poetry, 1990), typescript Kelly's Thumb/Lough in Muckland (novel) 11 Kelly's Thumb, proposal 12-13 Kelly's Thumb, typescript carbon 9 1-3 Typescript carbon, cont'd 4-8 Lough in Muckland, "complete" typescript 9 Typescript fragment 10 "Lough in Muckland," story offprint from NORTHWEST REVIEW, Summer 1959 KISSSSSS: A MISCELLANY (short stories, 2007) 10 1 "Hollywood Novelette/Agnes," typescript 2 "Nowadays & Hereafter," typescript fragments "some rewrites" 3-4 Typescript, "edits and rejects" Kulik in Puglia (novel) 5 Typescript carbon 6 Partial typescript 7 Typescript, agent's copy 8 "The Sweet Salento, with Edmond Kulik, and Peter Stern Among the Woptimists," tearsheet from PARIS REVIEW, undated Mendoza the Jew 9 Novel fragment, agent's copy 11 1-2 Screenplay, typescript, 2 copies MOVING PARTS (short stories, 1977) "43" 3 Note cards 4 Typescript photocopies 5 Corrected typescript 6 Partial typescript 7 "Female Skin," "A Parcel of Wrists," typescripts 8 "A Parcel of Wrists," typescript 9 Typescript, agent's copy 12 1 Typescript, cont'd 2 Typescript photocopy 3-7 Blue line proofs 13 1 Blue line proofs, cont'd 2 Wrist photographs 3* Illustrations, photographs, and book jacket layout (*oversize materials removed to box 43) 4-5 Nashville photographs 6 Review in AMERICAN BOOK REVIEW, 1978 7 Critical essays by others about MOVING PARTS 8-9 POSH (novel, published 1971 under pseudonym Stephanie Gatos), typescripts Private Entrance (play) 10 Typescripts, notes 14 1 Typescript photocopy SAW (novel, 1972) 2 Typescript 3 Typescript carbon with corrections 4* Author photographs for book jacket (*oversize photograph removed to box 43) 5 Shining Sea (poetry), typescript 6 The Steps of the Sun (novel), typescript, circa 1957 STOLEN STORIES (short stories, 1984) 7-8 Typescript 9 Typescript carbon 15 1 Typescript photocopy 2 Stories, various, typescripts SWANNY'S WAYS (novel, 1995) 3-6 "Original" typescript with handwritten changes Typescripts by chapter 7 "Tin," two copies 8 "Comment 1" 9 "Ouida" 10 "Wine" 11 "Comment 3" 12 "Red Shift" 13 "Comment 4" 16 1 "Scraps" 2 "Comment 5" 3 "Justice" 4 "Comment 6" 5 "Or (a)" 6 "Or (b)" 7 "My Postscript" 8 "Now" 9 Try a Little Tenderness (Otis Redding biography film treatment), first draft typescript and photocopy, 1978 10 THE WEIGHT OF ANTONY (poetry, 1964), typescript WIER & POUCE (novel, 1984) 11 "Babebies," typescript photocopy 12 "Bounce," typescript photocopy 13 "College Days," handwritten and typescript drafts 14 "The Death of Bobby Kennedy," typescript photocopy "Keeper" 15 Early typescript fragments 16 Short story version typescript 17-18 Typescripts 17 1 Partial typescript, carbon 2 "Keeper," "The Message," typescripts 3 "The Messages," typescript photocopy 4-5 "Early with revisions," typescript 6 Book jacket design, reviews
7 "Adjective," typescripts 8 "Boulder Women," typescripts 9 "Contributor's Note or How I Lead My Life or Things to do While Working for Notre Dame," typescript, 3 March 1977 * "Explanations," for an exhibitions of paintings by Richard tum Suden (*poster removed to oversize folder) 10 Juvenilia and "youthful poems," circa 1940s-1950s 11 "Knowing Henry Crow Dog," typescript 12 "The Lestriad," tearsheet from CHICAGO REVIEW, Spring 1965 13 "My Boulder Loves," typescript photocopy 14 "A Note on Richard tum Suden," typescript 15 "The Perfect Life," tearsheet from FICTION vol. 2, no. 1, with handwritten corrections 16 Poetry 18 1-2 "Poem variations revisions," typescripts, circa 2005 3 "Prism behavior in Indiana," typescript, photocopies 4 Reviews by SK 5 "Shaughnessy O'Diddly Dewdrop" (children's story), handwritten draft 6 "The Song of the Man in the Next Apartment Who is Crazy and Lives Alone," tearsheet from EPOCH VIII, 1957 7 "A Story of Infidelity," offprint from EPOCH, Winter 1963 8 "Testimony for [Charles] Ross," "Prism book," typescripts 9 "Total Recall," poetry typescript 10 "Zippo Jerky," typescript 11-12 Untitled stories, handwritten and typed drafts 13 [Untitled] collaboration with Elaine McCartney, typescript
14 1961 15-17 February - June 1962, Kulik in Puglia 19 1 Kulik, cont'd 2-6 2 December 1962 - 4 March 1966, THE Exagggerations of Peter Prince 7 9 February 1967, CREAMY & DELICIOUS 20 1 June 1967-May 1968, "Turkey Journal" 2 22 December 1967, "Jerusalem notebook (CREAMY & DELICIOUS)" 3 1968 4 14 April 1969, SAW 5 22 September 1970, SAW and MOVING PARTS 21 1 [1971], POSH 2 1971-1973 3 July-August 1971, 1973, 1974 4 1974-1976 5 June 1975 22 1 1976-1977, Indiana, Peru, Bolivia 2 1977-1978 3 1978-[1979] 4 [circa 1978-1979] 5 [1970s], Mendoza the Jew, novelization 6 23 February 1980 23 1 July 1980 2 1981-1982 3 1982 4 [circa 1982], China trip 5 1983 6 1983-1985 7 26 October 1984, SWANNY'S WAYS 24 1 27 May 1985-[1987] 2 1987 3 1988 4 1989-1992 5-7 [1980s, FLORRY] 25 1 [1990, JOURNALISM] 2 1992 3 March-April 1993, "Bali Book" 4 1993-1994 5 1994-[1995] 6 March 1994, 1997-1998 26 1 June-August 1996 2 1999 3 2001, "Antonello Trip" 4-7 Undated 27 1 Undated 2 Undated, [India] 3 Note cards 4-10 Yellow notepads 28 1-9 Yellow notepads, cont'd 29 1-3 Yellow notepads, cont'd
4 Katz, Patricia Bell, from publishers re children's book, 1964-1965 Katz, Sally, incoming letters 5-7 Katz, Alexander, 1942, 1948, 1950 8-10 Katz, Steve and Patricia "Jingle" Bell, 1953-1983 30 1-5 Katz, Steve and Patricia, cont'd Katz, Steve 6-9 Family letters, to and from SK "while away,"1958- 2003 31 1 70th birthday cards and letters, 2005
2 Ammons, A. R., 1966-1968 3 Bamberger, Bill, 1987-2000, 2003 4 Banks, Russell, 1993 5 Berryman, John, 1964 6 Besman, Inger, 1986-1994 7 Blassingame, Lurton (agent), 1964-1968 8-9 Boucher, Crisi, 1988-2004 10 Busey, Gary, undated 11 Clark, Tom, 1967 12 Cowley, Malcolm, 1964 13 Crow-Dog, Henry, 1971-1972 14 Dean, Peter and Lori, 1961-2001 15 Dine, Jim, 1968 32 1 Dorn, Ed, 1982, 1997-1998 2 Federman, Raymond, undated, includes some typescripts 3 Foreman, Deborah, 1996-1997, 2000 4 Friedlander, Lee, 1967-1968 5 Friedman, B. H., 1969, 1981-2004 6 Georges Borchardt, Inc., 1968-1974, 1995-1996 7 Golden, Sean, 1981-1982 8 Green, John (agent, Hughes Massie Ltd. agent), 1964- 1965 9-10 Guillot, Lindsay (Linne), 1979-1982 11 Hart, Carolyn, 1983, 1993 12 Hathaway, Baxter, 1958-1959 13 Hauser, Marianne, 1981 14 Heaton, Sammy and William (Bill), 1958-1959 15 Hollo, Anselm, 1974, 1995, 2000 16 Howe, Fanny, 1992-1996 17 Janssen, Virginia (Gini), 1986-1987, 1994-2000 18 Jensen, Jane, 1982-1983 19 Johnson, Ray, 1969 20 Kantor, Robert, 1960-1964, undated 33 1 Klinkowitz, Jerome, 1972-2003 2 Leyner, Mark, 1983, 1986 3 Lynn, Lorna, 1981-1985 4 Malanga, Gerard, 1965-1966 5 Marshall, Jack, 1970-1974 6 McCaffery, Larry, 1994-2000 7 Miller, Judy, 1965-1966 8 Nabokov, Véra (for Vladimir), 1968 9 Paul, Robert, 1959-1964, 1995-1996 10-11 Publishers and rejections, 1957-1968 12 Publishers "contracts, hassles, etc.," 1968-1972 13 Ray, David, 1958-1968 14 Ross, Charles, undated 15-17 Schimmel, Harold, 1957-2001 34 1-3 Schimmel, Harold, cont'd 4 Schjeldahl, Peter, 1965 5 Schneeman, George, 1963-2004 6 Schumann, Peter, undated 7-8 Sforza, Primarosa Cesarini, 1969, 1991-2004 9 Shulman, Martha Rose, 1983 10 Stephens, Michael, 1994-1995 11 Stout, Rex (for the Author's Guild, Inc.), 1972 12 Sterling Lord Agency, 1960, 1962 35 1 Stork, Sibyl, 1981-1983 2 Sukenick, Ron, 1964-2000 3 Sward, Robert, 1964-1969 4 tum Suden, Richard, 1965-1967 5 Violi, Paul 6 Weatherly, Florence Lazrus, 1958-1963, undated Miscellaneous 7-9 "Official," 1994-2004 10 "Friendly fire," 1997-2000 11-12 "More friendly fire" 36 1-2 "Friendly fun" 3-4 "Friendly stuff" 5-9 Unlabeled, 1957-2004 37 1-2 Unlabeled, cont'd
3 Astrological chart 4 The Author's Guild, membership packet 5 Awards and certificates, 1948-1952 6 Birth certificate * Cape Breton house, architectural drawings (*removed to oversize folder) 7 DICTIONARY OF LITERARY BIOGRAPHY entry, circa 1983, photocopy * Diploma, Cornell University, 1957 (*removed to oversize box 43) 8 Fellowship applications, recommendations, tenure and credentials 9 Guggenheim fellowship application 10 JEWISH WRITERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY entry re Katz, photocopy 11 Medical: Pupil's medical report, 25 February 1941; hospital card, 1947-1950 12 Passport, issued 1960 Photographs, by date 13 Katz, Alexander and Sally Goldstein Katz, early undated 14 Boy scout photos, with Pete Beck and George [Zograti], circa 1940s 15 "Washington Heights kids," circa late 1940s or early 1950s 16 Ashland, Spirit Lake, Eugene [Oregon slides], 1956-1959 17 Cape Breton, 1971, 1972 18 Cape Breton house, undated 38 1 Nicaragua trip group photograph, 1988 2-4 "Aborted car photo piece," undated 5 "To Richard's with contaflex," photos from car 6 "Clarence Schmidt, Kathy [Pomer], Katz," undated 7 Unidentified, undated 8 Reading announcements 9-10 Receipts, 1970s 11 Reviews and clippings 12 Royalty statements, 1968-1973 39 1 Teaching reviews, partial vita 2 Tofu instructions 3 University of Colorado Faculty Arts Award certificate, 1991 4 Miscellaneous
5 Brownstein, Michael. "When Nobody's Looking," 1981 6 Carey, Joe. Stories and reviews 7 Emshwiller, Carol. "Four short stories," photocopy * Fiction Collective, author photos for book jackets (*removed to oversize box 43) 8 Gallup, Dick. "Life is not a sport," poetry typescript Goldfarb, Sidney 9 "Orange Grove," script 10 "Rushes at Tulsa," typescript 11 Guillot, Lindsay (Linne). "The Eye in the Field," typescript photocopy, circa 1980 12 Hanna, Tom. "I make fallout too," poetry typescript photocopy 13* Heaton, William. Photographs of paintings (*poster removed to oversize folder) 14 A HUNDRED POSTERS, issues 14, 19, 23-26, 38, unidentified 15-16 Inskeep, James H. "Unpainted Object from Mound Number One," Master's thesis, University of Colorado, two copies, 1980 Karfiol, Judith Rachel. "New American Fiction and the Aesthetics of Camus and Robbe-Grillet," PhD dissertation, University of Southern California, 1978 17 Chapter II, "Steve Katz: Imagination Dislocations" 40 1 Complete dissertation Katz, Alexander 2-7 Notebooks, circa 1940s 41 1-8 Notebooks, cont'd 42 1 Notebooks, cont'd 2 Typescripts 3 Katz, Avrum. Photographs 4 Katz, Pat. HOMEGROWN newsletter, 1990-1991 5 Katz, Rafael. "The story of Yun Mi," "God's Seed," "Josh the Caucasoid," Taiwan strip and poems 6 Lieberman, Laurence. "Of Mind and World," review of NORTHFIELD POEMS, by A. R. Ammons in THE HUDSON REVIEW, vol. XX, no. 2, Summer 1967 7 Lewis, Harry. "The Candy Store: Nine Pieces of Spring Candy," poetry booklet, 1978 8 Leyner, Mark. Typescripts 9 McCaffery, Larry. "An Interview with Steve Katz," typescript, 1977 10 Molinaro, Ursula. "Positions with White Roses," uncorrected page proofs, 9 November 1982 11 Raworth, Tom. "Pleasant Butter," poetry typescript photocopy 12 ROCKY LEDGE, no. 7, February/March 1981 * ROLLING STOCK, nos. 11 and 12, 1986, no. 15/16, 1989 (*oversize materials removed to box 43) 13 Ryan, Paul. "Relationships," in TALKING WOOD, vol. 1, no. 4, 1980 14 Schimmel, Harold. Poetry typescripts 15 Silk, Dennis. "Silence, and Stealth of Dayes," poem, 1976 16 Tarquini, Francesco. "Treni," typescript 17 Weatherly, Florence Lazrus. Two stories, typescripts 18 Wurlitzer, Rudolph. Excerpt from SLOW FADE in SMOKE SIGNALS, 1983 * YANAGI IV BROADSIDES, various artists, 1977 (*removed to oversize folder) * Zelevansky, Paul. THE CASE FOR THE BURIAL OF ANCESTORS, selections from "The Foreward," and "Book I," February 1979 (*removed to oversize box 43) 19 Unidentified poems dedicated to Katz 43 Oversize
Reference queries to: reference@hrc.utexas.edu
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