Rodefer, Stephen

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American writer.

From the description of Stephen Rodefer papers, 1955-1994. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122540967

BIOGRAPHY

Stephen Rodefer's professional life has proven as eclectic and wide-ranging as the poetic voice emerging from his numerous books. As educator, he has taught undergraduate seminars at San Francisco State University, the University of California at San Diego, Jesus College at Cambridge University--and creative arts classes to fourth graders at the Malcolm X School; as prose writer, his work has been reprinted in publications as diverse as Wet, Downbeat, and Contrast II; and as poet, his narrative voice ranges from interpretive "translations" of the ancient Greek anthology, Lucretius, and Villon, to the consciously modern (if not post-modern) voice of Four Lectures or Passing Duration.

Born in 1940 in Bellaire, Ohio, Rodefer studied art history at Amherst College in Massachusetts. He received a master's degree in Language and Literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he studied with Charles Olson and began a dissertation on the life and work of Robert Creeley, the notes for which are part of this collection. Also during this period, he attended the 1965 Berkeley Poetry Conference, which he describes as a sort of induction into the world of the New American Poetry represented by attendees like Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones (later Amiri Baraka). He received an M.F.A. degree from San Francisco State University in 1981.

He has served as assistant professor of English and co-director of the creative writing program at the University of New Mexico, lecturer in English at San Francisco State University, curator of the Archive for New Poetry and visiting lecturer at the University of California at San Diego, and held a number of visiting lectureships at other schools and universities. As well as writing for magazines in both poetry and journalistic prose, Rodefer has been associated with their production: he edited Fervent Valley: A Magazine for the Arts (1972-1975); was contributing editor for Zyzzyva, and became involved with L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E magazine, an important journal of so-called language poetry. Since 1972, he has been active in the Bay Area's Poets Theater as both performer and writer/producer; his plays "A & C: an Idyl in One Act" and "Tennyson" were staged in 1983.

Rodefer's translations include After Lucretius, Villon, Orpheus (from Rilke's work) and Safety, a selection from Sappho and the Greek anthology. He is the author of The Knife, One Or Two Love Poems from the White World, The Bell Clerk's Tears Keep Flowing, Plane Debris, Oriflamme Day, Emergency Measures, and Four Lectures, which in 1983 was awarded the Annual Book Award by the American Poetry Center in San Francisco.

From the guide to the Stephen Rodefer Papers, 1955-1994, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Hickman, Leland. Leland Hickman letters : Los Angeles, Calif., to Stephen Rodefer : TLS, 1983 March 15 and May 23. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Fanny Howe Papers Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Rodefer, Stephen. Dining on cartilege : broadside, 2005. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Fanny Howe Papers Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Rodefer, Stephen. Stephen Rodefer papers, 1955-1994. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Hejinian, Lyn. Lyn Hejinian papers, 1973-1994. University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego Library; UCSD Library
referencedIn Lyn Hejinian Papers, 1966-2004 University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
referencedIn Howe, Fanny. Fanny Howe papers, 1980-1990. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Howe, Fanny. Papers, 1980-1990 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Summer Brenner papers, 1962-2005 University of Delaware Library - Special Collections
referencedIn Charlie Vermont Papers, 1965-1983 University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
creatorOf Stephen Rodefer Papers, 1955-1994 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Allen, Don. person
associatedWith Amnasan, Michael. person
associatedWith Andrews, 1948- person
associatedWith Baird, Theodore. person
associatedWith Bartlett, Lee, 1950- person
associatedWith Benson, Steve, 1949- person
associatedWith Berkson, Bill. person
associatedWith Bernstein, Charles, 1950- person
associatedWith Boucher, Meghan. person
associatedWith Brenner, Felix. person
correspondedWith Brenner, Summer person
associatedWith Brito, Manuel Carlos de. person
associatedWith Bunting, Basil. person
associatedWith Burns, Gerald. person
associatedWith Butterick, George. person
associatedWith Cantor, Margery. person
associatedWith Coleman, Victor, 1944- person
associatedWith Cook, Albert Spaulding. person
associatedWith Coolidge, Clark, 1939- person
associatedWith Creeley, Robert, 1926-2005. person
associatedWith Crozier, Andrew. person
associatedWith Cutler, Lynne. person
associatedWith Davidson, Michael, 1944- person
associatedWith Dawson, Fielding, 1930-2002. person
associatedWith Day, Jean, 1954- person
associatedWith Derksen, Jeff, 1958- person
associatedWith Dorn, Edward. person
associatedWith Drucker, Johanna, 1952- person
associatedWith Eschelman, Clayton. person
associatedWith Feeney, Kelly, 1961- person
associatedWith Friedlander, Benjamin. person
associatedWith Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997. person
associatedWith Glossen, Michael. person
associatedWith Goodell, Larry, 1935- person
associatedWith Granger, John. person
associatedWith Harryman, Carla. person
associatedWith Hartz, Jim. person
associatedWith Hejinian, Lyn. person
associatedWith Herbold, Sarah. person
associatedWith Hickman, Leland. person
associatedWith Hirschman, Jack, 1933- person
associatedWith Hollowell, Andrea. person
associatedWith Hoolihan Burke, Cathleen. person
associatedWith Howe, Fanny person
associatedWith Howe, Fanny. person
associatedWith Howe, Fanny Quincy. person
associatedWith Jensen, Kim. person
associatedWith Junker, Howard. person
associatedWith Kinnell, Galway, 1927- person
associatedWith Kosenka, Mary. person
associatedWith Levertov, Denise, 1923-1997. person
associatedWith Lisella, Julia. person
associatedWith Lowe, Jean. person
associatedWith Mastor, Andrea. person
associatedWith McCaffrey, Steve. person
associatedWith McVarish, Maria. person
associatedWith Mengham, Rod, 1953- person
associatedWith Moriarty, Laura. person
associatedWith O'Hara, Frank. person
associatedWith Olson, Charles, 1910-1970. person
associatedWith Oppen, George. person
associatedWith Palmer, Michael. person
associatedWith Parchuk, Jill. person
associatedWith Pearlman, Bill. person
associatedWith Petrol, Roger. person
associatedWith Rakosi, Carl, 1903-2004. person
associatedWith Raworth, Tom. person
associatedWith Reed, Pat, 1956- person
associatedWith Rice, Stan, 1942- person
associatedWith Shakespeare, Lydia Calman. person
associatedWith Silliman, Ron. person
associatedWith Silverberg, Lenny. person
associatedWith Sylvester, William. person
associatedWith Tapia, Betsy. person
associatedWith Tysh, Chris. person
correspondedWith Vermont, Charlie person
associatedWith Waldrop, Keith. person
associatedWith Waldrop, Rosemarie. person
associatedWith Wesling, Donald. person
associatedWith Whalen, Philip. person
associatedWith Young, Geoffrey. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
American literature
Occupation
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Person

Active 1955

Active 1994

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