HELEN ADAM - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 03/02/1985 - HFSID 273071

HELEN ADAM
The poet pens a letter to a fan revealing that she is “still writing” and includes a list of her books in print. Extremely rare!
Autograph Letter signed: "Helen Adam", 3p, 6x9, separate sheets. New York, New York, 1985 March 2. To "Dear Rick Godby". In full: "Many thanks for your kind & charming letter. I am sorry to have been so long in answering, but my sister, with whom I live, has been very ill, and everything has got behind-hand. Yes I am still writing. My newest book of poems is 'Stone Cold Gothic' illustrated by Auste, and published by the Kulchur Foundation. 888 Park Avenue. N.Y. N.Y. 10021 Another new book of poems will be published this year by 'The Toothpaste Press' West Branch Iowa 52358 'The Bells of Dis' illustrated by Ann Mikolowski. I enclose a list of my books in print. Most of them have to be ordered from the publishers as distribution by small presses is chancy. You say the greatest joy of your life is poetry. Are you a poet yourself? I feel you probably are. Thanks again for your interest, Best wishes". Lightly creased with folds, horizontal fold underlines signature. Fine condition. Accompanied by a handwritten list of her works, 2p, 8½x11, front and verso. The list begins with "Selected Poems & Ballads" and ends with "San Francisco's Burning", which Adam has noted to be: "not yet available but will be published later this year." This musical comedy was re-titled "The City is Burning". Volumes mentioned on this sheet are highlighted in the background below. Lightly creased with fold. Minor show through of writing on verso. Fine condition. With original stamped mailing envelope, 9½x4¼. 20-cent flag stamp and two 1-cent "The Ability to Write" stamps affixed, postmarked New York, New York, March 2, 1985. Return address handwritten by Adam: "Fr. Adam, 223 E 82nd St., N.Y. N.Y. 10028". Address to recipient written in another hand. Lightly creased with folds, not at writing. Lightly soiled. Postmark is smudged. Otherwise, fine condition. Helen Adam (1909-1993), a native of Glasgow, Scotland, was an active participant in the San Francisco Renaissance of the 1950s and 1960s. A poet, collagist, and photographer, Adam, though often associated with the "Beat" poets, was actually one of the predecessors of the Beat Generation. Immigrating to the U.S. in 1939, she worked with such influential poets as Allen Ginsburg and Robert Duncan, encouraging younger Beat poets to explore writing as an art form. One of only four women whose works were included in The New American Poetry 1945-1960 (1960), Adam's works include The Elfin Pedlar and Tales Told by the Pixie Pool (1923), Shadow of the Moon (1929), Ballads (1964), Counting Out Rhyme (1972), Selected Poems and Ballads (1974), Turn Again to Me and Other Poems (1977), Gone Sailing (1980),Songs with Music (1982) and Stone Cold Gothic (1984, with Auste Adam, who is mentioned in this letter). She and her sister also collaborated on a play, The City is Burning (1963, also mentioned in this letter under a different title), and Adam appeared in two German-made feature films. Three items.