Arvind Krishna Mehrotra papers, 1960-2014.
Collection Number: 8511

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra papers, 1960-2014.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
8511
Abstract:
Includes correspondence, published material and some manuscripts.
Creator:
Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna, 1947-
Clearing House (Publishing firm)
Bombay Poets Archive
Quanitities:
6.6 cubic feet.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Mehrotra is a 20th century modernist poet of India, an editor, translator and literary critic. Along with Adil Jussawalla, Mehrotra formed the Clearing House, which published the works of leading figures such as Arun Kolatkar, Gieve Patel, and Dilip Chitre, among others. The "Bombay Poets" were not strictly confined to Bombay/Mumbai, but included figures such as AK Ramanujan, who lived in the United States.

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Includes correspondence, published material and some manuscripts.

SEPARATED MATERIAL

Books - cataloged individually in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.
  1. de Souza, Eunice. Learn from the Almond Leaf, 2016. Signed.
  2. Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna. Bharatmata: a prayer, 1967. Offprint from Poetry India.
  3. Kolatkar, Arun. The Boatride, circa 1960s. Signed self-made book, with experimental paper treatment.
  4. Kolatkar, Arun. The Policeman, 1969. 1st edition.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra Papers, #8511. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

RELATED MATERIALS

Related material located in collection #8519, Adil Jussawalla papers.

SUBJECTS

Places:
India -- In literature.
Subjects:
Indic literature (English) -- History and criticism.
Form and Genre Terms:
Literary criticism.
Poetry -- India -- 20th century.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Series I. Arvind Krishna Mehrotra Manuscripts, Drafts, Personal Materials and Reviews
Box 3 Folder 1
Loose Sheets, Ezra 1 and 2
Box 3 Folder 2
Damn you/Ezra contributions
Scope and Contents
Including Agha Shahid Ali, letters from Adil (new writing in India), Tornado #5 (expenses), letters from US Poets
Box 3 Folder 3
Review clippings, Clearing House
1977-1983
Box 3 Folder 4
Early writings
late 1960s
Box 3 Folder 5-6
Drafts and manuscripts
late 1970s
Box 1 Folder 1
Reviews of Damn you/ Ezra
Scope and Contents
In Century (1966), Poetry India (1967), Manhattan Review(1966-1967)
Box 1 Folder 2-4
Contributions to other US, UK, and Indian magazines
Scope and Contents
Includes NPW/Kruti and Tornado #4, Bombay Duck
Box 3 Folder 7
TLS with poems
1978, 1965
Box 1 Folder 5-9
Poems, manuscripts and drafts
2000-2013
Box 2 Folder 12-15
Songs of Kabir MSS and drafts
2000
Box 2 Folder 17
Shakti Chattopadhyay
Box 2 Folder 16
History of Indian Literature in English file
Box 2 Folder 18
History of Indian Literature in English initial stages
1997
Box 2 Folder 19
History of Indian Literature in English correspondence
1996-1997
Box 2 Folder 20
Looking for A.K. Ramanujan clippings, notes and drafts
Box 2 Folder 21
Iowa materials, bound
1971-1973
Box 3 Folder 14
DH Law review essay materials
Box 2 Folder 25
The Transfiguring Places drafts of poems
Box 2 Folder 26
MSS drafts of poems that first appear under New Poems in Collected Poems
1998
Box 4 Folder 1
Copies of The Nation, MPT (17), Romanian Bulletin, all with AK Mehrotra poems or translations; Penguin News with announcement of Adil Jussawalla's "New Writing in India".
Box 4 Folder 3
The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature publishing information, photocopy with corrections of "The Emperor Has No Clothes".
2000
Box 4 Folder 4
MSS of the Absent Traveller with AK Ramanujan's corrections/suggestions in pencil, with letters from Selby and Ramanujan
1988
Box 4 Folder 4-5
MSS of the Absent Traveller, notes and drafts, with letter from Selby
1988
Box 3 Folder 15
The Absent Traveller notes and drafts
1988
Box 4 Folder 7
Mehrotra's Curriculum Vitae, book selection photocopies, materials for a grant/fellowship that never came through
Box 4 Folder 8-10
The Transfiguring Places proofs, drafts, letters to Ravi Dayal
Box 4 Folder 12
Clippings and notes related to History of Indian Literature in English
Scope and Contents
Includes Prathibha Nandakumar letter and photocopies of AK Ramanujan letters/poems to her.
Box 4 Folder 13
Articles and reviews received from Adil Jussawalla, including letters from Jussawalla
Box 4 Folder 18
AK Mehrortra early chapbooks: "Woodcuts on Paper" and "Pomes, Poemes, Poemas"
1967, 1971
Box 4 Folder 21
List of early publications, early letters to publishers, translations of poems in German
1965-1976
Box 4 Folder 22
Three early Mehrortra essays, one unpublished;, international writing program Iowa presentations and materials; Center for New Performing Arts Iowa publications
1971-1973
Box 4 Folder 23
Manuscripts
1973-1977, 1995-1996
Box 4 Folder 24
Distance in Statute Miles typescript
1981
Box 4 Folder 25
Kabir beginnings, including signed copy of Robert Bly's chapbook "The Fish in the Water is Not Thirsty (1971), and poster for the Indian edition of "Songs of Kabir"
Box 4 Folder 26
"All to Remember", unpublished typescript of Amit Rai (1948-1966) collected poems, prose, and letters edited by Mehrortra.
1971
Scope and Contents
Rai was one of the three editors of Damn You.
Box 4 Folder 27
The Absent Traveller drafts
Box 5 Folder 1-2
Making books, including final MSS of Distance to Statute Miles
1971-1982
Box 5 Folder 3-5
History of Indian Literature in English
Box 5 Folder 6-8
After Maluk MS, Paper Aeroplane, Poems from the goof surrealist MS, Partial recall essay, Nirala MS, letters from Helsa, Gulam Sheikh, the Yaddo file, GRE scores
Box 6 Folder 10-13
Miscellaneous press books and manuscripts
Box 6 Folder 14
Address book, notebook
Box 7 Folder 5
Genesis copies and notebook
1964-1965
Scope and Contents
Two copies of Genesis, Mehrotra's first "book," produced when he was 17 (one bound, one unbound); small notebook with Siva on cover—poems, pieces, doodles.
Box 7 Folder 6
News clippings
1970-1972
Box 7 Folder 7
Certificates
1962-1963
Series II. Publications
Box 1 Folder 11
"Imprint" Magazine, with reviews
February, May 1987
Box 1 Folder 12-13
"Debonair" Magazine
1981-1990
Box 1 Folder 14
Joseph Bruchac publications
Scope and Contents
Flow, Indian Mountain and Other Poems, The Road to Black Mountain
Box 1 Folder 15-16
Miscellaneous small publications
Scope and Contents
Including Row With Your Hair, Troll Songs, Zuk, Cold Mountain Press, Nights of Naomi, Let the Wild Rumpus Start, Wondering Where You Are, Westbeth Poetry
Box 1 Folder 17
"The Dolphin with the Revolver in its Teeth", "Shaded Room" (1), "Quark" (1967), "Maelstro" (1967), "Earthword" (1971), "Bear"
Box 1 Folder 18
"The Beauties of Travel", "The Poor Devil Eire", "Llamas Allmanac", "Margins" (1975)
Box 1 Folder 19
Journal of South Asian Literature (1974), Mahfil
Box 1 Folder 20
"Toothpaste", "The Very First Love Letter"
Box 1 Folder 21
"Red Crow"
1972, 1973
Box 2 Folder 1
University of Tampa
1966
Box 2 Folder 2
"The Nation", with Grace Shulman's poems and correspondence
1973
Box 2 Folder 3
"Keeper's Voice"
1966
Box 2 Folder 4
"Ole!" with letter from Doug Blazeg
1967
Box 2 Folder 5
Klacto, Suction
1967
Box 2 Folder 6
"Kolkata du Haazar"
1986
Box 2 Folder 7
"Indian Horizons"
1985
Box 2 Folder 8
"Contra '66" full set
Box 2 Folder 9
Gulam Sheikh catalogue, and letter
1999
Box 2 Folder 10
Vrishchik
1969
Box 2 Folder 11
"Saint Botolph's Review" #2
Box 2 Folder 11
Weissbort's 'Home'
Box 2 Folder 11
"Black Graphics International"
Box 2 Folder 22-23
British and US little magazines, including "Intrepid" special issue on India
Box 4 Folder 15
TriQuarterly 37: Going to Heaven, with a letter from Elliott Anderson
1976
Box 4 Folder 16
"Town Poems" by Ashok Chopra, an Ezra-Fakir publications, and single copy of Ezra #2
Box 4 Folder 17
"Damn You" issues 1-6 and "An Odd Thing" by Anil Saari, a Damn You press publications
Box 4 Folder 19
"Three" by Bogomil Gjuzel, translated by Mehrotra, Ezra-Fakir press
1973
Box 4 Folder 20
"Ezra" 1, 3-5; Fakir; "Bharatmata"; "Concrete poetry" loose sheets; twelve poems from the "Good Surrealist"; Clearing House cards and flyers
Box 5 Folder 9
"Salt Lick" materials
Box 6 Folder 10-15
Miscellaneous programs and small press books
Box 2 Folder 27
Poetmeat, Nos. 12 and 13
1966-1967
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence and poems from Tina Morris.
Box 2 Folder 27
Salted Feathers 8/9: Hungry!, Vol. IV, Nos. 1, 2
1967-03
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence from Howard McCord to Mehrotra inside the front cover
Series III. Other Authors and Miscellaneous
Box 3 Folder 8
Agha Shahid Ali, Keki Daruwalla, Dilip Chitre clippings and letters
Box 3 Folder 9
Saklatvala and Kabraji xerox copies
Box 3 Folder 10
Dom Moraes, Arun Kolatkar, and notes on Jejuri
Box 3 Folder 11
Adil Jussawalla, Manohar Shetty
Box 3 Folder 12
Eunice de Souza, Vikram Seth
Box 3 Folder 13
Jayanta Mahapatra poems, clippings, and letters
Box 3 Folder 14
Nissim Ezekiel xeroxes, reviews, Edinburgh interlude, note on Ezekiel
Box 2 Folder 24
Arun Kolatkar unpublished MSS of his novel 'Royan'
Undated
Box 4 Folder 2
"Nile" poems by Tomaz Salamun, autographed typescript
1972
Box 4 Folder 6
Arun's 'Sarpa Satra', Adil's poems
Box 4 Folder 14
Copy of Adil Jussawalla "Land's End" with his corrections and letter; photocopies of Jussawalla's "Trying to Say Goodbye" and "The Right Kind of Dog"; copies of Dilip Chitre chapbooks; Mehrotra's notes on translation and unpublished interview with Vijay Kumar
Box 3 Folder 18
Michael Lally items
Box 7 Folder 8
Arun Kolatkar writing
1964, 1974
Scope and Contents
In English, an unsewn manuscript signature of notes, poems, and sketches (1960s?); in Marathi, two manuscript signatures of poetry, hand-written and water-stained; Signed typescript of Jejuri in English, 1974.
Series IV. Correspondence
Box 4 Folder 11
Family Letters
Scope and Contents
Including letters from Ved Mehra and Palash Krishna Mehrotra; letter from Arun Kolatkar's nephew
Box 4 Folder 28
Correspondence to Leonard S. Marcus
1983
Box 3 Folder 16
Miscellaneous letters
1990s
Scope and Contents
Including letters from Adil, Manohar, Jeet, Ranjit, Allan, Pankaj (postcard about first impressions of the US)
Box 3 Folder 17
Correspondence
1989-1999
Box 5 Folder 10-11
Letters from writers: Adil Jussawalla, Shetty, Jayanta, Daniel Weissbort, Timothy Hyman, and others
Box 5 Folder 12-14
Letters from friends and academics, including Bruce King, Martha Selby, and others
1980s-1990s
Box 6 Folder 1-6
Letters from Adil, Shetty, Allan Sealy, Weissbort and others
Box 6 Folder 7-9
Miscellaneous correspondence
Box 7 Folder 1
Correspondence
Undated
Box 7 Folder 2
Correspondence
1966-1967
Box 7 Folder 3
Correspondence
1971-1972
Box 7 Folder 4
Oxford University Press Correspondence
1990
Scope and Contents
Three photocopied letters from Rukum Advani of OUP soliciting permission on any terms to publish Arun Kolatkar's work.