Aldon Nielsen papers

Aldon Nielsen is a poet, author, literary critic, and currently the George and Barbara Kelly Professor of American Literature at The Pennsylvania State University. He has degrees from the Federal City College (which became part of the University of the District of Columbia) and from the George Washington University. He previously taught at GWU (1982-1986), Howard University, San Jose State University, the University of California, Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University. Nielsen is the author of numerous publications including scholarly publications as well as edited collections and books of poetry. His areas of specialization include African American Literature and Language, Modernist Studies, Contemporary Literature, and Race and Ethnicity Studies, and Theory and Cultural Studies. Nielsen was born in 1950 in Grand Island, Nebraska, and raised in Washington, DC.

This collection contains early writings; book chapters; drafts; notes; unpublished papers/essays; numerous folders of poetry; author's proofs or editing copies; copies or portions of papers written by Aldon Nielsen and presented during conferences or other lectures; copies of "Lower Limit Speech" and "Upper Limit Music" (a poetry newsletter edited by Aldon Nielsen); printed reviews and advertisements used to promote Aldon Nielsen's works; letters, cards, copies of emails, and other forms of correspondence mostly related to Aldon Nielsen's professional life; a program; a photograph; cover art; and websites. The materials date from 1969-2021, with the bulk of the materials from 1980-2005. This collection documents many aspects of Aldon Nielsen's professional writing career, as a poet, author of works about other poets and literary movements, and as a literary critic.