May Swenson was an award-winning poet and playwright when Mona Van Duyn reached out to her in 1964 on behalf of Washington University Libraries to inquire about collecting Swenson's literary papers. Van Duyn and others in the WashU Writing Program had identified 15 poets and 15 fiction writers to reach out to first, and Swenson was on their list. Though Swenson had not yet met Van Duyn, she responded that she "could gather together all the worksheets of the poems in my last collection, TO MIX WITH TIME, together with the typescript that went to the publisher, and the corrected proofs, pertaining correspondence, etc." [Swenson to Van Duyn, September 7, 1964]

Thus, the May Swenson Papers became a part of the Modern Literature Collection from its very beginning, and has been a growing part of it ever since. During Swenson's lifetime, she sold or donated more of her papers to us, most notably, in 1984, almost the entirety of Swenson's and Elizabeth Bishop's 29 years of correspondence to one another, totaling 419 pages. These letters and cards document the close friendship of two of our most celebrated 20th century poets, and include insights into their collaboration on Swenson's 1965 poem, "Dear Elizabeth."

After Swenson's death in 1989, her literary executors, Rozanne Knudson, and then Carole Berglie, continued to add to the May Swenson Papers as well as to Swenson scholarship with new books and publications. Most recently, we have received from Berglie five of Swenson's earliest diaries, from 1935-59, including indexes by Berglie, and additional prose writings by Swenson. Also, Berglie has created a guide, available on Kindle, to all of Swenson's prose works.

This digital exhibit is intended to provide an overview of the May Swenson Papers with some highlights from its copious amount of correspondence, drafts, personal papers, ephemera and other materials. For more on Swenson and her resources in Special Collections, please visit this page. We welcome all inquiries from reserchers, educators, scholars and fans to further access these resources.