Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Laurence Donovan papers
Date(s)
- 1945-2001 (Creation)
Extent
12 Linear Feet (12 boxes)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Laurence Donovan was a poet, artist, and English professor at the University of Miami.
Donovan was born in 1927, and grew up in southern Florida. His parents were Ruth and Laurence Donovan, and he had one brother, Patrick. His father was best known for publishing Doc Savage novels under the alias Norman Danberg.
Donovan served as a private in the Army Corps of Engineers in the Philippines from 1945-1946. Following his military service, he graduated with an A.B. from the University of Miami in 1951, and an M.A. in 1954. He also completed one year of Ph.D. coursework at the University of Iowa in 1957. Donovan taught English at the University of Miami from the 1950s through the 1980s, first as an instructor, and then as a professor. He passed away in 2001.
Laurence Donovan is best known for his poetry, much of which was inspired by Florida’s natural beauty. His poems were published in literary journals across the nation. An avid artist, Donovan was prominent in the Coconut Grove art scene in the 1960s. His artwork was featured in numerous exhibitions and it was frequently published, sometimes accompanying his literary work. Donovan also wrote book reviews for the Miami Herald for many years.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Laurence Donovan Papers include correspondence, poetry, artwork, book reviews, writings, subject files, and other documents concerning the life and career of Laurence Donovan, an English professor at the University of Miami.
The correspondence dates from 1945-2001, and includes letters from Donovan’s family, friends, and professional associates. It provides insight into Donovan’s personal life, in addition to documenting his writing, artwork, and teaching. Most of the letters are incoming, but the series does contain some outgoing letters.
The collection also contains poetry, artwork, and writings by Donovan. The poetry includes typescripts and published poems. The typescripts are undated, and some have handwritten revisions. The artwork includes a small selection of Donovan’s published illustrations. The writings include typescripts and photocopies of book reviews that Donovan wrote for the Miami Herald, as well as papers and other materials.
The subject files include materials related to Donovan’s teaching and work at the University of Miami, as well as his poetry and artwork. Also included are articles and other materials about literary figures and works; programs and flyers for exhibitions, readings, shows, and other events; and writings and other materials by and about his friends and colleagues.
System of arrangement
The Laurence Donovan Papers are organized into five series.
I. Correspondence
II. Poetry
III. Artwork
IV. Writings
V. Subject Files
Please see the Finding Aid/Inventory section of this guide for more detailed information.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
This collection is open for research.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Laurence Donovan Papers Finding Aid © 2010 University of Miami. Requests to reproduce or publish materials from this collection should be directed to asc.library@miami.edu.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of Dee Clark, 14 May 2010, with an additional gift by Jane Freeman, 3 August 2010.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
List of Poems by Laurence Donovan
The Admirals
Advice from Farther Up
After Many Years
Afterwards
The Anachronist
Andromache
The Animals
The Arrival
Ars Poetica
The Artist
Artist and Model
The Avocados
The Bandages
Beach Runner
The Beginning
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
The Bend in the River
Bestiary
Birdman
Bluegum is Sorrow
Blue Heron
The Butterflies
By the Blue Cabana
By the Pool At Noon
Calle Thirty y Ocho
Changes
Chorale
Circus
Coda Bestiarum
Coins
The Collector
Colloquy between the Puppets & the Puppet Master
Come See the Tented Lady
Confession
Days
Dicta for a Hidden Poem
Dog Island: A Draft
The Dream
Dune Pine
Echo
Elegy
Elegy for Alan
Elegy for Jose
Elegy in Ghana
Eleven for Paul Klee
Entr'Acte
Epthalamium the Sea Grape
The Everglades
The Fall
The Figure in the Mangroves
Flower. Rain. Man. Man. Rain. Flower.
The Fly
For Hogan Logan and Cyn Zarco
For the One
From a Phrase of Genet
Further Words from Socrates
Garbage Truck
The Grail of Laughter
Helen
Holding the Boy
Homage to Marguerite Young
The Hoofprint in the Dust: for John Ashbury
The House of Stone and Branch
How the Children Had It
Iconoclasm
In Cabana
In Spite of the Sky's Death
In the Invisible Man's Suitcases Are:
In the Long Run
In the Palace
In the Waters off Largo
In the Wind, Two Roses
In Wind's Swung World
It Came About
I the Climber
I Was Astonished
Jesus is Looking out of the South
The Jeweler
Keaton
King Kong
Late Night
Long Key
A Long Way
Loss
Ma Lin
The Mangroves
The Margins
Matins
Moments
The Moon
Morning Song
Netting Crabs
Old Age
Old Charlie
The Old Man Says
On Dim Peripheries
The Other Ark
Pale Usher
Parables
Past and Present
The Peacock
The Penguin
Perhaps
Perhaps the Memory
The Pine
Pity
A Poem on an Empty Page
Poet
Prayer for the Night Commuter
The Raven
The Reader: Description & Questions
Reading
Remains
Report from Above
Retrospective
Rose of the Four Winds
Running at Crandon
The Sandflats
The Scorpion
The Sea
The Seagrape
Seeing
Sestina
Seven Stanzas
The Shell
Sidewalks
A Small Bestiary
A Small Chorale for Wallace Stevens
The Soapbox Derby
Song
Song for the Northern Children
Songs of the Bluely Farers
Sprinkling
Strangler Fig
Summer Advice to a Mother
Sunday Afternoon
The Sun Makes a Few Remarks
Sutton Hoo
Talisman
The Tarot
Testament
There is a Minstrelsy Within Each Room
The Things of Love
This Day
This Time Around
Thoughts on Contemporary Poetry
Three Songs of Antilles
To Robinson Jeffers
Tower of Blue Horses
Transcriptions
The Traveler
Tropical Haiku
Truth to Tell
Two Young Poets at Night
The Typewriter's Tale
Variations on Some Lines by Ungaretti
View of the Delta
The Walk
Wanderlust
The Wars of Gold
Watt
The Way to Make A Bee
What We Have Here
Where I Stood
The Wind
Winds
Winter Stanzas for Norma