Ruth Moose Papers Inventory (#4918)

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Processed by:

Aletha Andrew

Date Completed:

November 1998

Encoded by:

Aletha Andrew

Revisions:

Finding aid updated in December 2000 by Roslyn Holdzkom.

Descriptive Summary Including Abstract

Title

Ruth Moose Papers (#4918) 1960s-2000

Creator

Moose, Ruth.

Extent

About 4500 items (18.5 linear feet)

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Abstract

Ruth Moose (1938- ), North Carolina writer; reference librarian at Pfeiffer College, 1988-1996; and, since 1996, teacher of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ruth Moose worked as a free-lance writer, including a stint at the Charlotte Observer, for which she was a regular columnist, and as poetry editor for the Uwharrie Review and The Arts Journal. In addition to numerous articles, poems, and stories that have appeared in magazines and newspapers, she has published four poetry and two short story collections. Moose is married to artist Talmadge Moose and has two sons. Materials include drafts and published versions of poems, short stories, book reviews, and essays; correspondence; clippings; professional activities files; and collected material. Writings comprise the bulk of the collection. Correspondents include Charles Edward Eaton, Jean Burden, Doris Betts, John Nichols, John Ciardi, Clyde Edgerton, Marianne Gingher, Fred Chappell, Donald Hall, Sam Ragan, Maxine Kumin, and Susan Ludvigson. Clippings are chiefly reviews of Moose's work and interviews with her. Professional activities files contain materials relating to her education, grant applications, workshops and conferences, readings, and book signings. Collected material includes copies and reviews of fellow writers' works. There are also miscellaneous materials relating to Talmadge Moose.

Administrative Information

Access

Boxes 33-35 CLOSED pending processing.

Usage Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Provenance

Received from Ruth Moose of Pittsboro, N.C., in March 1998 (Acc. 98051), August 1999 (Acc. 98432), September 1999 (Acc. 98445), October 1999 (Acc. 98491), November 1999 (Acc. 98499), July 2000 (Acc. 98694), May 2000 (Acc. 98716), August 2000 (Acc. 98714), and September 2000 (Acc. 98730).

Processing Note

Full processing of this collection has been deferred pending expected additions. Some additions are unprocessed, but usable; others are closed pending processing.

Online Catalog Terms

American poetry--North Carolina--20th century.

Authors, American--North Carolina--20th century.

Betts, Doris.

Burden, Jean.

Chappell, Fred, 1936- .

Ciardi, John, 1916- .

Eaton, Charles Edward, 1916- .

Edgerton, Clyde, 1944- .

Gingher, Marianne.

Hall, Donald, 1928- .

Kumin, Maxine, 1925- .

Ludvigson, Susan.

Moose, Ruth.

Moose, Talmadge.

Nichols, John Treadwell, 1940- .

Poets, American--North Carolina--20th century.

Ragan, Sam, 1915- .

Short stories, American--20th century.

Women authors, American--North Carolina--20th century.

Women poets, American--North Carolina--20th century.

Biographical Note

Ruth Moose, a professional writer since 1969, was born on 24 August 1938 in North Carolina. Both Ruth and her future husband, Talmadge Moose, grew up in Stanly County, N.C. Ruth is the oldest of four children and the only girl. Her father, Ardie Morris, worked in a hardware store, and her mother, Vera Morris, was a homemaker.

Ruth Morris married artist Talmadge Moose after high school, and they raised two sons before she began work on a B.A. in English-Creative Writing Studies at Pfeiffer College (Pfeiffer University as of 1996) in Misenheimer, N.C., at age 45. She completed the B.A. degree in two and a half years. For 14 years, Moose was a poet-in-residence in North Carolina high schools and colleges. For several years, she also contributed a thrice-weekly column to the Charlotte News.

Moose began writing and selling short stories to the Charlotte Observer and Good Housekeeping as a free-lance author, eventually writing a monthly column for the Observer. In 1975, she helped form the "Wednesday Writer's Workshop" in Charlotte with Dannye Romine, a fellow writer and Charlotte Observer columnist. After earning a master's degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Ruth Moose held the position of reference librarian at Pfeiffer College, 1988-1996. There, she was also instrumental in organizing the Pfeiffer Friends of the Library. In 1996, Moose studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with poet Charles Edward Eaton and novelist Doris Betts. Since 1996, Moose has taught creative writing at UNC-CH.

Ruth Moose has published three books of poetry: Finding Things in the Dark (1982); Making the Bed (1995), for which she won the Oscar Arnold Young Award; and Smith Grove (1997). In addition, a 16-page section of her poems titled "To Survive" was published in Quintet, a 1981 collection of five poets' works produced by Bookmaker's Press in Kansas City, Mo. Two of Moose's short story collections have been published: The Wreath-Ribbon Quilt, first published in 1987 by St. Andrews Press, Laurinburg, N.C., and later in a second edition by August House, Little Rock, Ark., in 1989. In 1989, August House also published her second collection of short stories, Dreaming In Color. Her stories have been published in two other anthologies: Homecoming: The Southern Family in Short Fiction, produced by August House in 1990, and Twelve Christmas Stories by North Carolina Writers, which Moose also edited, published in Asheboro, N.C., by Down Home Press in 1997. One of Moose's poems and a recipe appear in the anthology There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays, published by Papier-Mache Press of California in 1997. Moose edited and has an article published in I Have Walked: Stories and Poems About Poverty, published in 1989 by the North Carolina Poverty Project.

Moose won three PEN Syndicated Awards for Short Fiction and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in poetry in 1976. In addition to two National Endowment for the Arts grants in 1986 and 1987, Moose was awarded a fellowship to attend the McDowell Artists Colony in Peterborough, N.H., in 1994. Moose also received a Sam Ragan Fine Arts Award and won a Blumenthal Writers & Readers Series Competition in 1996.

Moose has two sons, Lyle Moose and Barry Moose. She and her husband designed, built, and lived in a house they named "Witness Tree," from a Robert Frost poem and huge beech tree on the property. The house is located in part of the Uwharrie Range overlooking the Pee Dee River. She now lives in Pittsboro, N.C.

Collection Overview

Series 1, Correspondence, chiefly concerns Moose's writing projects and friendships with various fellow writers, including poets Charles Edward Eaton; Jean Burden, who was also editor of Yankee magazine; Fred Chappell; Donald Hall; Sam Ragan; Maxine Kumin; and Susan Ludvigson. There is also correspondence with novelists Doris Betts, John Nichols, John Ciardi, Alan Gurganus, Clyde Edgerton, and Marianne Gingher. Most of these letters relate to the publication of Moose's two short story anthologies and other writing projects. Liz Parkhurst, vice-president of August House, is a frequent correspondent. Very little family or personal correspondence is included.

The bulk of the materials appears in Series 2, Writings, which includes drafts and published versions of Moose's works. Many of the drafts are of short stories that were later published in magazines or in one of Moose's two short story collections. Many drafts have annotations and some are filed with related correspondence, much of which concerns revisions suggested by readers or possible avenues of publication. Published works include poems, short stories, book reviews, how-to and seasonal pieces, essays, local color articles, household tips, recipes, and personal interviews.

Series 3, Clippings, contains reviews of Moose's work and interviews with her. There are also interviews with Moose and her husband, Talmadge Moose, as well as notices of her book signings, writing workshops, and teaching activities.

Series 4, Professional Activities, contains materials relating to her education, grant applications, workshops and conferences, readings, and book signings. Included are issues of The Arts Journal, for which Moose was poetry editor. Her work with several conferences and workshops is represented by flyers, programs, and some correspondence.

Series 5, Collected Material, includes reviews of the works of fellow writers, such as Ann Beattie, Eudora Welty, and Maxine Kumin, and published copies of their their works. There are also some miscellaneous materials relating to Talmadge Moose.

Organization of Collection

1. Correspondence
2. Writings
3. Clippings
4. Professional Activities
5. Collected Material
Additions after 1998
Addition of August 1999
Addition of September 1999
Addition of October 1999
Addition of November 1999
Addition of May 2000
Addition of August 2000
Addition of September 2000

Series Descriptions

Unprocessed, but usable.

Unprocessed, but usable.

Unprocessed, but usable.

Unprocessed, but usable.

Unprocessed (very roughly sorted by type of material), but usable.

Unprocessed, but usable.

CLOSED: Unprocessed, letters in envelopes.

CLOSED: Unprocessed, letters in envelopes.

Items Separated

Items separated include photographs (P-4918) and a cassette audio tape (C-4918/1).