GRENNAN, EAMON, 1941-
Eamon Grennan papers, 1943-2010

Restrictions on Access

Special restrictions apply: Series 1: Letters by Seamus Heaney are closed to researchers.

Series 1: Due to privacy concerns, some materials in the series have been redacted.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Special restrictions apply: Researchers may not quote from diaries in Series 4 without written permission from Grennan.

Source

Purchase, 2010.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Eamon Grennan papers, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

Processed by Sarah Quigley, Rebecca Sherman and Sarah Clayton, 2012.

Biographical Note

Eamon Grennan, Irish poet and professor, was born on November 13, 1941 in Dublin, Ireland, to Thomas P. and Evelyn Grennan. Grennan received a B.A. and M.A. in English from University College, Dublin, in 1963 and 1964 respectively. He lived in Rome from 1965-1966, then moved to the United States for graduate school. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1973. He married Joan Perkins, whom he met in Rome, in 1972. The couple had two children, Kate Grennan and Conor Grennan. They divorced in 1985. He subsequently met long time companion, classicist Rachel Kitzinger, with whom he has one daughter, Kira Grennan.

Grennan taught at Herbert Lehman College, City University of New York, from 1971-1974. In 1974, he accepted a position with Vassar College, where he taught English until his retirement in 2004. During a year's leave from Vassar in 1977, which he spent in Ireland, he began writing poetry seriously for the first time. Grennan published his first volume of poetry, Wildly for Days, in 1983. He has published numerous volumes of poetry since, including What Light There Is (1987), As If It Matters (1991), So It Goes (1995), Relations: New & Selected Poems (1998), Selected & New Poems (2000), The Quick of It (2005), Out of Breath (2007), Matter of Fact (2008), and Out of Sight: New and Selected Poems (2010). His What Light There Is and Other Poems (1989) was a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Still Life with Waterfall (2002) won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize in 2003.

Grennan has also edited several volumes including New Irish Writing: Essays in Memory of Raymond J. Porter (1989), and Facing the Music: Irish Poetry in the Twentieth Century (2004). He has also translated numerous works by Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi, as well as an edition of Oedipus at Colonus (2004) on which he partnered with Kitzinger.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of the personal and literary papers of Eamon Grennan from 1943-2010. The papers include a small amount of correspondence and personal papers; writings by Grennan; writings by others; diaries; printed material; and photographs. Correspondence is limited, but includes editorial correspondence, letters from colleagues and other writers including Peter Fallon and Ann Roesnes, and personal correspondence from friends and family. Personal papers include biographical information about Grennan such as his curriculum vitae and bibliography, as well as appointment books and contracts.

Writings by Grennan form the bulk of the collection and include both Grennan's poetry and prose works, as well as notebooks, lectures, and teaching files. Writings by others consist of literary manuscripts sent to or collected by Grennan from other authors such as Louis Asekoff, Tom MacIntyre, and Desmond O'Grady. Also present are manuscripts of Grennan's translations of other authors' works. The diaries are personal in nature and chronicle Grennan's life and travels. Printed material contains copies of Grennan's published writings, promotional materials relating to his appearances and speaking engagements, and general printed material relating to other authors or topics of interest to Grennan. There are very few photographs in the collection and primarily consist of unidentified people and places.

Arrangement Note

Organized into six series: (1) Correspondence and personal papers, (2) Writings by Grennan, (3) Writings by others, (4) Diaries, (5) Printed material, and (6) Photographs.