John Taggart Poetry Collection
Collection
Identifier: 2014-06
Scope and Content Note
This collection documents the scholarship of John Taggart from 1963-2012. Included are
publications with his poems; reviews of his poems; Taggart’s reviews of other artists’ work; and
materials related to poetry readings and conferences he attended such as programs, pamphlets,
notes, and flyers.
The records are arranged in 3 series: 1) Poetry, 2) Reviews and Essays, and 3) Poetry Readings
and Conferences. Series 3 contains two subseries to distinguish between reviews of Taggart’s
work and non-poetry writings by Taggart. The contents of each series and subseries are arranged
chronologically by year. Publications are listed in front to back order in which they appear in
each box. Not all volumes have explicit dates. Dates that are estimated are marked with an
asterisk. Titles without page numbers listed indicate that the works are not paginated.
Dates
- 1963 - 2012
Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Reproduction Note
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from Shippensburg University
Archives & Special Collections. Contact the archivist for more information.
Administrative History
John Taggart was born in 1942 in Guthrie Center, Iowa. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree
with honors from Earlham College in Indiana, where he studied English Literature and
Philosophy. He received his Master’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the
University of Chicago, and later completed his doctoral work under Walter Sutton and Abraham
Veinus in the Humanities Interdisciplinary Studies Program at Syracuse University where he
wrote his dissertation on the poetry of Louis Zukofsky.
Taggart is a renowned poet and was Professor of English at Shippensburg University from 1969
to 2001. He has been published widely in literary magazines alongside notable contemporaries
such as Allen Ginsberg, Susan Howe, and Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge. He has also been published
and spoken internationally in Italy, Portugal, France, and Spain. Influenced by poets Charles
Olson and George Oppen, philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, and novelist Herman Melville,
Taggart’s writing style is often associated with Objectivist theory. He has authored more than a
dozen collections of poetry, including Is Music: New and Selected Poems (2010), Pastorelles
(2004), and Dodeka (1979). He also published the literary magazine Maps during the late 1960s
and early 1970s. Taggart has received the honors of the Commonwealth Award for Academic
Service from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, a Pushcart Prize, the Chicago Review
Poetry Prize, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford
Foundation.
After joining the faculty of Shippensburg University in 1969 he continued to write poetry and
advised the Reflector, a student literary publication, from 1972-2001. He retired from
Shippensburg University in 2001. Today, Taggart continues to write and lives in Pennsylvania.
4
Sources Consulted:
“John Taggart.” Poetry Foundation. Accessed October 30, 2015.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-taggart
Extent
8.54 Linear Feet (21 archives boxes)
Language of Materials
English
French
Italian
Portuguese
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives & Special Collections as a
donation from John Taggart.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Processing Note
The John Taggart Poetry Collection was donated in spring 2015 by John Taggart. The Archives
& Special Collections Graduate Assistant, Sheila Joy, arranged the publications by type and in
chronological order to create an ease of access for the patron.
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sheila Joy
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
Ezra Lehman Memorial Library room 207
Shippensburg University of PA
1871 Old Main Drive
Shippensburg PA 17257
717-477-1123 x3357
specialcollections@ship.edu
Ezra Lehman Memorial Library room 207
Shippensburg University of PA
1871 Old Main Drive
Shippensburg PA 17257
717-477-1123 x3357
specialcollections@ship.edu