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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 50 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 28,000 items) |
| Abstract | Jeffery Scott Beam is a North Carolina poet. The collection includes papers, correspondence, poetry notebooks, publications, and other related materials of Jeffery Beam. Correspondence documents his role as an active member in the literary and gay communities. Also included are drafts and publication materials for his published books and files pertaining to his unpublished collections of poetry. There is also correspondence with poets Jonathan Williams, Thomas Meyer, James Broughton, and Damon Sauve, editor of Oyster Boy Review. |
| Creator | Beam, Jeffery, 1953- |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Jeffery Beam's lyrical, metaphysical work fuses the physical and spiritual worlds, creating a conversation between the natural world, the body, and the spirit. Beam is the author of nine books of poems, The Golden Legend (Floating Island, 1981), Two Preludes for the Beautiful (Universal, 1981, limited edition), Midwinter Fires (French Broad, 1990, nominated for a 1991-1992 Pushcart Prize), The Fountain (North Carolina Wesleyan College Press, 1992, nominated as a Notable Book by the American Library Association), Visions of Dame Kind (The Jargon Society, 1995), Submergences (Off the Cuff Books, 1997, nominated for an American Library Association Gay/Lesbian Book Award), little (diminishing books, Green Finch Press, 1997), Light & Shadow: The Photographs of Claire Yaffa (Aperture Books, 1997), and An Elizabethan Bestiary: Retold (Horse & Buggy Press, 1999, awarded an 2000 IPPY Award as one of the Ten Best Books of the Year--with a special notation for Best Book Arts Craftsmanship from Independent Publisher magazine, awarded one of the 50 Books 2000 Awards from the American Institute for the Graphic Arts).
Two recently completed volumes seek publishers: "The Beautiful Tendons: Uncollected Queer Poems, 1977-2000," and "The Broken Flower." He is currently at work on a enhanced compact disk of new and selected poems entitled "What We Have Lost," the libretto for an opera on the myth of Demeter and Persephone, a poem sequence "The Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Virtues," "They Say: A Commonplace Book on Poetry and the Spirit," and a manuscript "The Life of the Bee." The distinguished composer Lee Hoiby has recently accepted a commission to set five of the "Life of the Bee" poems to music. This work will premier in late spring 2002 at the opening celebrations of the new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute for the Arts and Humanities building.
Beam has published widely in small magazines and anthologies, including Word and Witness: 100 Years of North Carolina Poetry, The Son of the Male Muse , Earth and Soul: A Russion/English Anthology of North Carolina Poetry , The Asheville Poetry Review, Brightleaf A Southern Review of Books, North Carolina Literary Review, Pembroke Magazine, Sparks of fire: Blake in a New Age, The Double Dealer Redux , Cardinal, The Carolina Quarterly, The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review , modern words, Evergreen Chronicles , Oyster Boy Review, The James White Review, Gay Roots: 20 Years of Gay Sunshine , The Worcester Review, Dreamworks, Black Men/White Men, Kiss of the Whip, and Yellow Silk (first ten year anthology). In 1998, his short poems were subject of a special issue of Hummingbird: The Magazine of the Short Poem. In late 2000, his work will be featured in Charlotte, North Carolina's Main Street Rag. His book reviews and criticism have appeared in The Advocate, Smithsonian, The Front Page, Garden Design, The North Carolina Literary Review , The American Book Review, The Christian Science Monitor, Lambda Book Report, The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, The Independent Weekly, Small Press Review, Yellow Silk, and loblolly.
Beam has been a judge in the Poetry Division of the Lambda Book Awards for ten years, and, in 1996, served as preliminary judge in The Independent Weekly's annual poetry contest. In the spring 1996, he began teaching workshops, among them "The Dog of Art in the Garden of Toads," and "Fossil Poetry: Seeing the Word, Hearing the World," sponsored by the North Carolina Writers Network. With grants and other support from the Durham and Orange County Arts Council, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, the Duke Museum of Art, the North Carolina Zoological Park, and private contributions, the publication of An Elizabethan Bestiary: Retold included exhibitions at DUMA, the North Carolina Zoological Park, and readings and interactive presentations across North Carolina during 1999. The Duke University student newspaper, The Chronicle, chose the Bestiary exhibit as the best exhibit on campus during the academic year 1998-1999. Beam was recently interviewed for the Duke Triangle Rainbow Oral History Project.
Beam is the recipient of a 1991 Orange County Emerging Artist Grant from the Durham Arts Council, a 1998-1999 Grant from the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, and a 2000 Office of the Provost Public Service Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Public Service. In 2000, he served as one of ten notable Parade Masters for the North Carolina Gay Pride Parade. He and his poetry are the subject of North Carolina filmmaker Tom Whiteside's experimental film, PoemBeam. The author, born and raised in Kannapolis, N.C., earned his Bachelor of Creative Arts from University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1975. At UNCC, he served as first poetry editor, then editor of the arts magazine Sanskrit.
Poetry editor of Oyster Boy Review (www.oysterboyreview.com), and an occasional contributor to Lambda Book Review, Beam is also known for readings that bring together music, poetry, and theater. Beam oftentimes sings his own poems as well as the poetry of others, incorporating Afro-American and Bluegrass gospel, show tunes, and folk songs into his performances. 2000 marks the eighth year he will perform "Winter Stories for Children of All Ages" at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Hillsborough, N.C., and works as the assistant to the biology librarian in the Botany Library at the UNC-Chapel Hill.
(Biographical note supplied by Jeffery Beam, February 2001.)
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Scope and Content
The collection includes papers, correspondence, poetry notebooks, publications, and other related materials of writer Jeffery Beam. Correspondence documents his role as an active member in the literary and gay communities. Also included are drafts and publication materials for his published books and files pertaining to his unpublished collections of poetry. There is also correspondence with poets Jonathan Williams, Thomas Meyer, James Broughton, and Damon Sauve, editor of Oyster Boy Review .
Note that box 33 of correspondence is CLOSED to researchers until 2075; correspondence with Tom Ray and Damon Sauve is CLOSED until 2048; unprocessed additions are CLOSED pending processing.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Processed Materials.
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Subseries 1.1 Correspondence
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Subseries 1.2 Project Files.
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Subseries 1.3 Poems, Poetry Notebooks, and Diaries.
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Subseries 1.4 Writings: Manuscripts and Related Materials.
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Subseries 1.5 Publications.
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Subseries 1.6 Other Papers.
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Subseries 1.7 Pictures.
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Subseries 1.8 Audiocassette Tapes.
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Subseries 1.9 Videotapes.
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Series 2. Unprocessed Additions.
RESTRICTED: All unprocessed addtions are CLOSED PENDING PROCESSING.
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Addition of June 1998 (Acc. 98146)
Files relating to writers, events, and other items. Also included is a gardening notebook and a few computer floppy disks.
| Box 34 |
Addition of June 1998 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of June 1998 (Acc. 98146)" Box 34 |
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Addition of October 1998 (Acc. 98209)
Files relating to The Broken Flower and other files. Included is a videotape marked "Friday Noon Poets, May 1998."
| Box 35 |
Addition of October 1998 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of October 1998 (Acc. 98209)" Box 35 |
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Addition of June 1999 (Acc. 98397)
Computer zip disks containing files relating to An Elizabethan Bestiary .
| Box 35 |
Addition of June 1999 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of June 1999 (Acc. 98397)" Box 35 |
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Addition of September 1999 (Acc. 98458)
Files relating to An Elizabethan Bestiary and other files.
| Box 35-36 |
Addition of September 1999 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of September 1999 (Acc. 98458)" Box 35-36Box 35Box 36 |
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Addition of February 2000 (Acc. 98568)
Videotape of "Elizabethan Bestiary Retold."
| Box 37 |
Addition of February 2000 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of February 2000 (Acc. 98568)" Box 37 |
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Addition of January 2001 (Acc. 98839)
Correspondence, "Elizabethan Bestiary Retold" materials, etc.
| Box 38 |
Addition of January 2001 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of January 2001 (Acc. 98839)" Box 38 |
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Addition of February 2001 (Acc. 98844)
Correspondence, writings, box of computer disks (filed with Acc. 98861), etc.
| Box 38-39 |
Addition of February 2001 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of February 2001 (Acc. 98844)" Box 38-39Box 38Box 39 |
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Addition of February 2001 (Acc. 98568)
Correspondence, writings, files, note cards, etc.
| Box 39-40 |
Addition of February 2001 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of February 2001 (Acc. 98568)" Box 39-40Box 39Box 40 |
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Addition of May 2002 (Acc. 99259)
Correspondence filed by correspondent or organization.
| Box 41-42 |
Addition of May 2002 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of May 2002 (Acc. 99259)" Box 41-42Box 41Box 42 |
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Additions of March (Acc. 99463) and September 2003 (99621)
Correspondence filed by correspondent or organization, writings, notes.
| Box 43-44 |
Additions of March and September 2003 #04888, Subseries: "Additions of March (Acc. 99463) and September 2003 (99621)" Box 43-44Box 43Box 44 |
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Addition of June 2004 (Acc. 99815)
Correspondence filed by correspondent or organization, writings, notes, computer disks, and other material. One box contains papers relating to What We Have Lost , New Growth, and Life of the Bee.
| Box 45-48 |
Addition of June 2004 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of June 2004 (Acc. 99815)" Box 45-48Box 45Box 46Box 47Box 48 |
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Addition of May 2005 (Acc. 100048)
Kevin Bezner addition: Correspondence, press clippings, audiotape interview for Main Street Rag, and photographs of Beam.
| Box 49 |
Addition of May 2005 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of May 2005 (Acc. 100048)" Box 49 |
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Addition of October 2006 (Acc. 100520)
Correspondence filed by correspondent or organization.
| Box 50-52 |
Addition of October 2006 #04888, Subseries: "Addition of October 2006 (Acc. 100520)" Box 50-52Box 50Box 51Box 52 |
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Addition of January 2008 (Acc. 100845)
Correspondence filed by correspondent or organization, writing notes, video tapes, and other material.
Processed by: Library Staff, 1998-2005
Encoded by: Jackie Dean
Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.
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