Frank Stanford 5434200 216902487 2008-06-03T19:08:52Z Jareha 64979 Copyedit; alphabetize categories. {{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] --> | name = Frank Stanford | image = stanford.jpg | birthdate = {{birth date|1948|8|1|mf=y}} | birthplace = [[Richton, Mississippi]] | deathdate = {{death date and age|1978|6|3|1948|8|1|mf=y}} | deathplace = [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]] | occupation = [[Poet]] | nationality = [[United States|American]] | influences = [[William Blake]], [[Walt Whitman]], [[Emily Dickinson]], [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]] | influenced = [[C.D. Wright]], [[Franz Wright]], [http://www.ginnystanford.com/ Ginny Stanford] }} '''Frank Stanford''' ([[August 1]], [[1948]] &ndash; [[June 3]], [[1978]]) was a prolific [[United States|American]] [[poet]]. He is most known for his [[Epic poetry|epic]], ''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]''— a labyrinthine, highly lexical book absent stanzas and punctuation. In addition, Stanford published six shorter books of [[poetry]] throughout his 20s, and three posthumous collections of his writings (as well as a book of selected poems) have also been published. Just shy of his 30th birthday, Stanford died on [[June 3]], [[1978]] in his home in [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]], the victim of three [[suicide|self-inflicted]] [[pistol]] wounds to the [[heart]]. In the three decades since, he has become somewhat of a [[cult following#Cult figure|cult figure]] in American letters. ==Biography== [[Image:Emery Memorial Home.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Stanford's birthplace. [http://www.emeryhome.com Emery Memorial Home] burned in 1964.<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/>]] ''It wasn't a dream, it was a flood.'' ===Early life and education=== Frank Stanford was born '''Francis Gildart Smith''' on [[August 1]], [[1948]] to [[widow]] Dorothy Margaret Smith at the [http://www.emeryhome.com Emery Memorial Home] in [[Richton, Mississippi]].<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008">Ehrenreich, Ben. [http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/feature.html?id=181083 "The Long Goodbye"], ''The Poetry Foundation'', 2008.</ref><ref name="Oxford American, Winter 2006">[[C.D. Wright|Wright, C.D.]] "Frank Stanford: Blue Yodel Of A Wayfaring Stranger," ''[[Oxford American]]'', Issue 52, pp 98-105. Winter 2006.</ref><ref name="Ruth Rogers in Fayetteville, 1997">Ruth (Stanford) Rogers in [[Fayetteville, AR]], July 26, 1997.</ref><ref name="Carrie Rogers’ June 2, 2005 email">Stanford's niece, Carrie Rogers, by email on [[June 2]], [[2005]].</ref><ref name="Eva Johnson Email, February 21, 2008">Eva Johnson by email on [[February 21]], [[2008]]. Johnson was adopted through the Emery Home and now facilitates Emery reunions. According to Johnson, the Stanford children grew up in Greenville through 1952. Johnson believes it was her adoptive grandmother, a Greenville attorney who handled adoptions for the Emery Home, who handled the adoptions of Stanford in 1948 and, a year later, his sister.</ref><ref>Frank Stanford at the [http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?letter=y&lastname=STANFORD&firstname=FRANK&ssn=430-86-3588&birth=1+Aug+1948&death=Jun+1978&middlename=&namesiffix= Social Security Death Index]. Confirms [[August 1]], [[1948]] birth.</ref> He was soon adopted by a single [[divorcée]] named Dorothy Gilbert Alter (1911-2000<ref>Dorothy Stanford at the [http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?letter=y&lastname=STANFORD&firstname=DOROTHY&ssn=412-05-3640&birth=13+Sep+1911&death=22+Feb+2000&middlename=G&namesiffix= Social Security Death Index].</ref>), who was [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company|Firestone]]'s first female manager.<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Eva Johnson Email, February 21, 2008"/><ref name="Battlefield- 2000 edition">Stanford, Frank. ''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]'', biographical note and [[C.D. Wright]]'s preface. No place given: [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]] no. 50, 2000. ISBN 9780918786500.</ref> In 1952, Gilbert married successful [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] [[levee]] [[engineer]]<ref name="Battlefield- 2000 edition"/> Albert Franklin Stanford (1884-1963<ref>Albert Stanford at the [http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?letter=y&lastname=STANFORD&firstname=ALBERT&ssn=430-01-3802&birth=24+Sep+1884&death=Aug+1963&middlename=&namesiffix= Social Security Death Index].</ref>), who subsequently also adopted “Frankie” and his younger, adoptive sister, “Ruthie” (Bettina Ruth).<ref name="Ruth Rogers in Fayetteville, 1997"/> The children attended Sherwood Elementary School in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], then junior high school in [[Mountain Home, Arkansas]], where the family had moved in the late 1950s following A.F. Stanford's retirement.<ref name="Oxford American, Winter 2006"/> The elder Stanford died during the poet's freshman year at [[Mountain Home High School (Mountain Home, Arkansas)|Mountain Home High School]].<ref name="Oxford American, Winter 2006"/><ref name="Subiaco Records">[[Subiaco Abbey and Academy|Subiaco Academy]] records, Registrar's office. Accessed by Registrar Lou Trusty at [[Subiaco Abbey and Academy|Subiaco Academy]] on [[February 15]], [[2008]]. Stanford graduated from [[Subiaco Abbey and Academy|Subiaco]] on [[May 27]], [[1966]].</ref> [[Image:SubiacoAbbeyAcademyArkansasUSA.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Subiaco Abbey and Academy]], where Stanford attended [[University-preparatory school|prep school]] from 1964-1966.]] In 1964, as a [[sophomore]],<ref name="Subiaco Records"/> Stanford entered [[Subiaco Abbey and Academy|Subiaco Academy]] — a boys' [[University-preparatory school|prep school]] run by [[Benedictines|Benedictine]] [[monks]] who provided a rigorous [[liberal arts]] and [[physical fitness]] [[curriculum]] — near [[Paris, Arkansas]] in the [[Ouachita Mountains]]. After graduating in May 1966,<ref name="Subiaco Records"/> he entered the [[University of Arkansas]] in [[Fayetteville, Arkansas|Fayetteville]] in the fall,<ref name="U. of A. Registrar's Office">[[University of Arkansas]] records, Registrar's office. Accessed by Alexis Leppich at the Registrar's office on [[February 26]], [[2008]]. Leppich confirmed that Stanford began in fall 1966 (as opposed to the commonly misprinted 1967) in the College of Business (not Engineering, which is most commonly printed) and later switched to the College of Arts and Sciences. Leppich confirmed that Stanford took only undergraduate courses through fall 1968 and that his first graduate course was in spring 1969 (as opposed to commonly misprinted dates of 1968 or 1967). Leppich also confirmed that Stanford took classes in 1970 but not 1971 (as opposed to common misprints of Stanford dropping out in 1969 or 1971 [this corresponds to Leon Stokesbury's comments; see footnote for phone conversation with Stokesbury on February 25, 2008]), and Leppich confirmed that Stanford never received a degree.</ref><ref name="Bill Willett conversation">Stanford's best friend, Bill Willett, in [[Mountain Home, AR]] by phone on [[February 20]], [[2008]]. Re: Stanford starting college in [[fall]] 1966, some sources have misprinted as 1967, but Willett confirmed 1966; Willett and Stanford lived together and joined the same fraternity together (they dropped out together shortly thereafter) that fall. Re: summer 1971 marriage to Mencin, Willett is sure that the wedding was in either July or August. Re: Stanford working on ''Battlefield'' as a teenager, Bill believes Stanford worked on the book during their freshman year at the University of Arkansas and that he had started it at Subiaco if not before.</ref> first studying [[business]], but soon switching to the College of Arts and Sciences.<ref name="U. of A. Registrar's Office"/> In [[fall]] 1968,<ref>Leon Stokesbury in [[Atlanta, GA]] by phone on [[February 25]], [[2008]]. Re: Stanford joining the graduate writing workshop, Stokesbury is confident that Stanford's first semester in the workshop was spring 1969. Stokesbury is also confident that Stanford dropped out in fall 1970 (not 1969 or 1971). Re: publication date of ''The Singing Knives'', Stokesbury said that he was in Fayetteville in 1972 until August and left for a couple of months; when he returned in November, the book had appeared on the scene. When asked why Stanford would have published the book in 1972 with a date of 1971, Stokesbury commented that Stanford never claimed to be older than he was, only younger.</ref> Stanford took a poetry class from instructor James Whitehead who — quickly impressed with Stanford's talent — let the [[Undergraduate education|undergraduate]] poet into the [[Graduate school|graduate]] poetry-writing [[workshop]] for the following semester, spring 1969.<ref name="U. of A. Registrar's Office"/> Stanford soon became known throughout the [[Fayetteville, Arkansas|Fayetteville]] literary community<ref name="Ruth Rogers in Fayetteville, 1997"/><ref name="Battlefield- 2000 edition"/><ref name="TSK Epilogue, 1979 edition">Wright, C.D. Epilogue, ''The Singing Knives'' (Lost Roads,1979). Re: unpublished manuscripts, Wright's epilogue notes the existence of fifty complete manuscripts of poetry, short fiction, screenplays, and essays.</ref> and published poetry in the student [[literary magazine]], ''Preview''.<ref>Stanford's poetry in three issues. 1) Stokesbury, Leon, ed. ''Preview''. 1968-1969; 2) Stokesbury, Leon, ed. ''Preview: The Literature''. 1970; 3) Stanford, Frank, ed. ''Preview: Eight Poets''. 1971. College of Arts and Sciences, [[University of Arkansas]]. Stanford was Associate Editor for the 1970 issue and Editor for the 1971 issue.</ref> However, he left the university in 1970,<ref name="U. of A. Registrar's Office"/> never earning a degree.<ref name="U. of A. Registrar's Office"/><ref name="Before Columbus Poetry Anthology">[[C.D. Wright|Wright, C.D.]] "Frank Stanford", ''The Before Columbus Poetry Anthology''. [[W. W. Norton & Company|W. W. Norton]]. 1991.</ref> ===Career=== ====1969-1972==== Over the next several years, Stanford kept writing, publishing in a wide range of [[Literary magazine|literary journals]] and magazines around the world.<ref>By 1975, Stanford's work had appeared in no less than the following international publications: ''The Far Point'' ([[Canada]]), ''The West Coast Review'' ([[Canada]]), ''The Hunchback In The Park'' ([[Wales]]), ''Ghost Ship'' ([[Ireland]]), ''The Circular Ruins'' ([[Scotland]]), ''La Bell Et La Bete'' ([[France]]), ''La Notte'' ([[Italy]]), ''Poetry: Australia'' ([[Sydney]], [[Australia]]), and ''Edge'' ([[New Zealand]]).</ref> In 1969, he met Linda Mencin, the daughter of a retired [[United States Navy|Naval]] [[Commander]] and [[World War II]] [[flying ace|ace]], through a mutual friend.<ref name="Phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin">The former Linda Mencin in [[Austin, TX]] by phone on [[February 22]], [[2008]]. Mencin's father is the late [http://www.vf31.com/pilots/mencin.html Adolph Mencin (1916-1998)] of [[Rogers, AR]]. Re: common misprints of her mother being a "society lady" or "socialite," she said this was untrue, that her mother was "glamorous," but raised on a farm and not a "society lady."</ref><ref name="2nd phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin">The former Linda Mencin in [[Austin, TX]] by phone on [[February 23]], [[2008]]. Re: Stanford and Mencin's introduction, they met through Keith Mills (Mencin's boyfriend at the time), whom Stanford knew from the university.</ref> The two soon moved into a house in Fayetteville's Mt. Sequoyah neighborhood together,<ref name="Ruth Rogers in Fayetteville, 1997"/><ref name="TSK Epilogue, 1979 edition"/><ref name="2nd phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin"/> Mencin working for the [[War on Poverty]] and Stanford writing poetry— oftentimes all day long.<ref name="Phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin"/> In Mt. Sequoyah, Stanford worked away on his [[magnum opus]], ''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]'' — which he had likely begun as a teenager<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Bill Willett conversation"/> — handwriting the poem in [[pen]] on his and Mencin's [[dining room]] table.<ref name="Phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin"/> The full chronology of the creation of the poem is almost fatefully obscured, but [[consensus]] is that Stanford worked on the [[manuscript]] sporadically over many years<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/> until late 1974<ref>''Battlefield'' wasn't complete before September 1974 because Stanford mentioned in a [http://www.alsopreview.com/thecollections/stanford/Essays/dugan3.html September 1974 letter to Alan Dugan] that he was "going to hire a typist to do a [sic] 800-1000 page manuscript ... of which Dugan had seen "ahout [sic] 500 pages."</ref> or 1975, by which time the book was finished.<ref name="C.D. Wright's January 17, 2008 email">[[C.D. Wright]] by email on [[February 17]], [[2008]].</ref> {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 91%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:9em; max-width: 100%;" cellspacing="8" | style="text-align: left;" | '''The Minnow''' If I press<br> on its head,<br> the eyes<br> will come out<br> like stars.<br> The ripples<br> it makes<br> can move<br> the moon.<br> |- | style="text-align: left;" | <small>Frank Stanford, ©1971.</small><ref name="The Singing Knives"/> |} In 1970, he met [[Irving Broughton|Irv Broughton]], the editor and publisher of Mill Mountain Press, at the Hollins Conference on Creative Writing and Cinema.<ref name="Irv Broughton, Spokane, WA">[[Irving Broughton|Irv Broughton]] at his home in Spokane, WA, April 2001.</ref><ref name="Irv Broughton, 2008">[[Irving Broughton|Irv Broughton]] in [[Spokane, Washington]] by phone on [[February 18]], [[2008]]. Re: writers interviewed, misprints have included others, but [[Irving Broughton|Broughton]] clarified that, with Stanford, only [[Richard Eberhart|Eberhart]], [[Malcolm Cowley|Cowley]], and [[John Crowe Ransom|Ransom]] were interviewed. Re: film festival, some sources have printed "West Coast Film Festival," but Irv clarified, confirming Northwest Film & Video Festival; he also corrected that the award was not for "experimental filmmaking," as Rain Taxi misprinted.</ref><ref name="P&W, Broughton on Stanford">[[Irving Broughton|Broughton, Irv]]. [http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cache:RtKEMHVgT8UJ:www.pw.org/mag/0209/letters.htm "Tracing The Tale" (Letters To The Editor)], Poets & Writers, September 2002.</ref><ref name="C. D. Wright’s June 2, 1998 letter">[[C. D. Wright]] by letter postmarked [[June 2]], [[1998]].</ref> Broughton read Stanford's work at the conference and agreed to publish the poet's first book, ''The Singing Knives''.<ref name="P&W, Broughton on Stanford"/> Five of Stanford's poems appeared in ''The Mill Mountain Review'' later that year,<ref name="Mill Mountain Review">Stanford's poetry in three issues. ''The Mill Mountain Review'', Vol. 1, No. 2; 1970. Vol. 1, No. 3; 1971. Vol. 1, No. 4; 1971. [[Seattle, WA]]: Mill Mountain Press.</ref> and in 1971, ''The Singing Knives'' was published as a [[limited edition]] [[chapbook]].<ref name="Irv Broughton, 2008"/><ref name="P&W, Broughton on Stanford"/><ref name="The Singing Knives">Stanford, Frank. ''The Singing Knives''. [[Seattle, WA]]: Mill Mountain Press. 1971. ISBN 0912350504. "The Minnow" reprinted here with permission from [[C.D. Wright]], rights holder. Re: publication date, some sources have listed book's publication date as 1972 (such as stated on the copyright page in the 2008 reprint; also see footnote for phone conversation with Leon Stokesbury on February 25, 2008), but book itself lists 1971.</ref> That summer,<ref name="Bill Willett conversation"/> Stanford and Mencin married, but, after having lived together for two years, Mencin left the poet after only three months of marriage.<ref name="Phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin"/> The poet spent much of 1972 traveling through the [[Southern United States|South]] and [[New England]] with Broughton, a [[Communication studies|communications]] teacher and [[film director|filmmaker]].<ref name="Irv Broughton, 2008"/> Together, the two interviewed and filmed poets/writers [[Richard Eberhart]], [[Malcolm Cowley]], and [[John Crowe Ransom]].<ref name="Irv Broughton, 2008"/> (These interviews appear in ''The Writer’s Mind: Interviews With American Authors'', a three-volume set.<ref name="The Writer's Mind">[[Irving Broughton|Broughton, Irv]], ed. ''The Writer's Mind: Interviews With American Authors''. 3 vols. [[Fayetteville, AR]]: University of Arkansas Press. 1989-90.</ref>) Broughton tutored Stanford in the technical aspects of camera work, and the poet developed an interest in [[filmmaking]].<ref name="Irv Broughton, 2008"/> Moreover, he briefly lived in [[New York City]],<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="TSK Epilogue, 1979 edition"/> if perhaps for merely a few weeks,<ref name="C.D. Wright's January 17, 2008 email"/> but only, he would later write, "to go to the movies."<ref name="Constant Stranger">Stanford, Frank. "Blue Yodel Of The Desperado." ''Constant Stranger'', p 29. [[Seattle, WA]]: Mill Mountain Press. 1976.</ref> Returning to Arkansas from New York, he moved to the old [[spa town]] of [[Eureka Springs]] and took a room in the New Orleans Hotel.<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="TSK Epilogue, 1979 edition"/> ====1973-1976==== [[Image:Frank Stanford, Shooting Film.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Frank Stanford, 1973, shooting footage for ''[[It Wasn't A Dream, It Was A Flood]]''.]] In March 1973 in [[Neosho, Missouri]], on a weekend away from [[Eureka Springs]], Stanford met painter [http://www.ginnystanford.com/ Ginny Crouch],<ref name="Ginny Stanford's March 4, 2008 email">Ginny Stanford by email on [[March 4]], [[2008]]. Stanford and Crouch met on the morning of March 3, 1973 in Neosho, Missouri at mutual friend Robert Carter's farmhouse. Re: ''Shade'''s publication date, Ginny Stanford confirmed that the 1975 "Second Edition" is, in fact, the first edition (she couldn't recall Stanford's reason for publishing the book with the discrepency).</ref> and they soon began living together, settling first in a cabin on the [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]] near Eureka Springs and later in a house near [[Rogers, Arkansas]] on [[Beaver Lake (Arkansas)|Beaver Lake]],<ref name="Ginny Stanford's March 4, 2008 email"/> merely a few miles from Mencin's parents.<ref name="Phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin"/> Stanford and Crouch married in October 1974<ref name="Ginny Stanford's March 4, 2008 email"/> while living on Beaver Lake; later, the couple moved to the Crouch family's farm in southern [[Missouri]].<ref name="Battlefield- 2000 edition"/><ref name="TSK Epilogue, 1979 edition"/> For several years, Stanford meagerly supported himself and his second wife by working as an unlicensed [[land surveyor]].<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Oxford American, Winter 2006"/><ref name="Father Nicholas Fuhrmann, 2008">Father Nicholas Fuhrmann at [[Subiaco Abbey and Academy]] by phone on [[February 15]], [[2008]]. Re: his last meeting with Stanford, Fuhrmann remembered it as being approximately ten days before Stanford died, but Stanford was in New Orleans for his last two and a half weeks, so the Stanford/Fuhrmann meeting was probably at least a few weeks before his death.</ref> Broughton and Stanford made a 25-minute [[documentary film|documentary]] about Stanford's work and life — filmed in [[Arkansas]] and [[Mississippi]] — titled, ''[[It Wasn't A Dream, It Was A Flood]]'', which won one of the Judge's Awards at the 1975 Northwest Film & Video Festival.<ref name="Irv Broughton, 2008"/><ref name="Ted Hurliman at the Northwest Film Center">Ted Hurliman at the [[Northwest Film Center]] (which runs the Northwest Film & Video Festival) in [[Portland, OR]] by phone on [[February 21]], [[2008]]. Accessing records, Hurliman confirmed that the film screened at the 1975 festival (as opposed to the commonly misprinted "1974"), that the film was 25 minutes on 16 mm, that the director was listed as [[Irving Broughton|Irv Brougton]], that the description was "A dreamlike documentary about poet Frank Stanford, filmed in Arkansas and Mississippi," and that the film won "one of the Judge's Awards."</ref><ref name="Rain Taxi 1998">Bachar, Greg. [http://www.raintaxi.com/online/1998fall/stanford.shtml "It Wasn't A Dream, It Was A Flood: Constant Stranger"], Rain Taxi, Vol. 3, No. 3. [[Fall]] 1998.</ref><ref name="Stanford's poem in documentary">The film includes possibly the only recording of Stanford reading his work, his poem [http://www.alsopreview.com/thecollections/stanford/flinger.htm “Linger”] from ''Ladies From Hell'' (Mill Mountain Press, 1974).</ref> [[Image: Frank Stanford Signature.gif|thumb|left|180px|Frank Stanford's rare signature,<ref name="Derringer Books Website (on Stanford’s signature)">[http://www.abebooks.com/home/ZIPKIN/ Derringer Books], [[San Francisco]]: [http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=174015988&searchurl=an%3Dstanford%26bi%3D0%26bx%3Doff%26ds%3D30%26sortby%3D2%26sts%3Dt%26tn%3Dsinging%2Bknives%26x%3D0%26y%3D0 "Stanford's signature is almost unheard of."]</ref> from the title page of a signed copy of ''Shade'' (1975).<ref name="Shade">Stanford, Frank. ''Shade''. [[Seattle, WA]]: Mill Mountain Press. Limited Edition. Second Edition. 1975. The publication date of ''Shade'' is a source of much confusion. The book's title page notes 1975, the copyright page reads "Copyright 1973, 1975 by Frank Stanford," "Second Edition," and the book's front matter lists "SHADE 1973" under "Books By Frank Stanford." However, the supposed 1973 first edition was never published (see footnote for Ginny Stanford's email of March 4, 2008), the upshot being that the "Second Edition" is, in actuality, the first edition.</ref>]] Based in [[Washington]], Broughton received manuscripts from Stanford, sometimes transcribing additional poems via telephone from him in Arkansas, Missouri, and the East Coast.<ref name="Irv Broughton, Spokane, WA"/><ref name="Irv Broughton, 2008"/> Following the publication of ''The Singing Knives'', Broughton's Mill Mountain Press published five more of Stanford's chapbook-length manuscripts between 1974 and 1976. ''Ladies From Hell'' appeared in 1974. ''Field Talk'', ''Shade'' (which included four line drawings by Ginny Stanford),<ref name="Ginny Stanford's March 4, 2008 email"/><ref name="Shade"/> and ''Arkansas Bench Stone'' were published in 1975. Perhaps the strongest of the chapbooks, ''Constant Stranger'', was released the following year. {| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 0em; font-size: 91%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:19em; max-width: 100%;" cellspacing="5" | style="text-align: left;" | '''Death In The Cool Evening''' I move<br> Like the deer in the forest<br> I see you before you<br> See me<br> We are like the moist rose<br> Which opens alone<br> When I'm dreaming<br> I linger by the pool of many seasons<br> Suddenly it is night<br> Time passes like the shadows<br> That were not<br> There when you lifted your head<br> Dreams leave their hind tracks<br> Something red and warm to go by<br> So it is the hunters of this world<br> Close in.<br> |- | style="text-align: left;" | <small>Frank Stanford, ©1974.</small><ref name="Ladies From Hell">Stanford, Frank. ''Ladies From Hell''. [[Seattle, WA]]: Mill Mountain Press. 1974. "Death In The Cool Evening" reprinted here with permission from Ginny Stanford, rights holder.</ref> |} Returning to Fayetteville in 1975, Stanford reestablished relationships with local area writers and met poet [[C.D. Wright]], a [[graduate student]] in the [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA program]] at the [[University of Arkansas]].<ref name="Battlefield- 2000 edition"/> In 1976, Stanford rented a house in Fayetteville on Jackson Drive with Wright and established the independent publishing operation [[Lost Roads Publishers]] to publish the work of talented poets without ready access to publishing;<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Oxford American, Winter 2006"/><ref name="P&W, C.D. Wright">[[C.D. Wright|Wright, C.D.]] [http://www.pw.org/mag/debutpoets2006reminiscences.htm "Finishing The First"], Poets & Writers, December 2006.</ref> he said that his purpose with the press was to "reclaim the landscape of American poetry."<ref name="R.C. Hall's article">Hall, R.C. [http://www.alsopreview.com/thecollections/stanford/Essays/rchall.html "Death Of A Major Voice In Arkansas"], ''[[Arkansas Times|The Arkansas Times]]'', December 1978.</ref> The first Lost Roads title was Wright’s ''Room Rented By A Single Woman'' in 1977.<ref name="P&W, C.D. Wright"/><ref>DuVal, John. [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1057 C.D. Wright (1949-)], The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History And Culture, [[November 26]] [[2007]].</ref> Lost Roads would issue twelve titles under Stanford's direction.<ref name="Before Columbus Poetry Anthology"/> [[Image:The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You.jpeg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Book cover|cover]] of the [[Edition (books)|1st edition]] of Stanford's [[magnum opus]], ''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]'' (1977).]] ====1977-1978==== =====''The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You''===== 1977 saw the publication of Stanford's most substantial and influential book, ''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]''. A joint publication by Mill Mountain Press and Lost Roads (taking up numbers 7-12 in the Lost Roads catalog), the published version of the epic (which had, at one point, according to Stanford, reached over 1,000 pages and 40,000 lines)<ref name="Stanford's letter to Walker, April 1974">Stanford, Frank. [http://www.alsopreview.com/thecollections/stanford/Essays/david3.html "Letter to David Walker"], [[April 1]], [[1974]]. ''The Alsop Review''. The David Walker with whom Stanford corresponded is not the David Walker of ''FIELD'', contrary to prior misprints, but, rather, a former co-editor of ''Edge''.</ref> settled at 542 pages<ref name="Before Columbus Poetry Anthology"/> (383 pages in the second, 2000, edition) and 15,283 lines.<ref name="1997 Battlefield">Stanford, Frank. ''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]''. [[Fayetteville, AR]]: Mill Mountain/[[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]] nos. 7-12, 1977. ISBN 0-918786-13-4. Re: publication date, C.D. Wright notes in her preface for the 2000 edition that, at the time of Stanford's death, the book was "printed but not bound"; as with other discrepancies in Stanford's bibliography, though, official date of publication is taken from book's title/copyright pages. Re: line count, some sources have incorrectly labeled the 15,283-line poem (as evident in the 2000 edition) as being over 20,000 lines (or over 21,000 lines) in the [[First edition#First edition|first edition]] (which suggests that the two texts are actually different), but the seemingly longer line count in the 1977 edition is merely resultant of the paper's [[octavo (book)|octavo]] size, effecting many lengthy lines to be necessarily broken with indents employed. </ref> Friends and poets — some prominent — had read parts or all of the manuscript, at least in earlier forms, years before its publication. In an April 1974 letter, Stanford comments that poet [[Alan Dugan]] had written to him with the response, "This is better than good, it is great ... one day it will explode."<ref name="Stanford's letter to Walker, April 1974"/> The poem, perhaps surprisingly, has yet to "explode," but has achieved almost mythic status in certain circles. =====Final months and days===== By 1978, Stanford was heavily occupied with [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]]' publishing endeavors. Father Nicholas Fuhrmann, Stanford's former English teacher and longtime friend, has noted that Stanford was, during this period, visiting his mother (who lived in [[Subiaco, Arkansas|Subiaco]]<ref name="Interview with Dorothy Stanford">Interview with Dorothy Stanford in 1998 (Dorothy Stanford died in 2000). Dorothy Stanford worked as office manager of [http://www.subi.org/couryhouse.htm Coury House], the retreat center at Subiaco Abbey.</ref><ref name="Donna Forst, Coury House">Donna Forst, [http://www.subi.org/couryhouse.htm Coury House], by phone February 23, 2008.</ref>) more often than had seemed usual.<ref name="Father Nicholas Fuhrmann, 2008"/> Stanford spent his last two and a half weeks in [[New Orleans, LA|New Orleans]] before returning to [[Fayetteville, AR|Fayetteville]] on June 3rd.<ref name="Ginny Stanford's March 5, 2008 email">Ginny Stanford by email on [[March 5]], [[2008]]. Re: Stanford's "will/suicide note," Ginny Stanford noted that the first version was written on May 22. Re: Stanford's arrival date in New Orleans, Ginny Stanford is pretty sure that Stanford left Fayetteville for New Orleans on May 17 (in conversation with Ralph Adamo by phone on February 24, 2008, Adamo was confident that Stanford had been in New Orleans for at least his last two weeks [and felt it was closer to three]; in conversation with C.D. Wright by phone on March 4, 2008, she mentioned the visit to be "two weeks"). The trip's length has been misprinted in at least one publication as being one week in length.</ref> In New Orleans, he wrote a suicide note, which included a will.<ref name="Ginny Stanford's March 5, 2008 email"/> On June 3rd, Stanford's friend, Sherman Morgan,<ref name="Sherman Morgan">Sherman Morgan was proprietor of Sherman's — a bar frequented by Stanford (see Ehrenreich's article) in Tin Cup (Fayetteville's small black [[Ethnic enclave|enclave]], also known locally as "the hollow").</ref> met him at Fayetteville's [http://nw-ar.com/drakefield/ Drake Field] and drove him from the airport to his home at 705 Jackson Drive.<ref name="John Peel Conversation">Sherman Morgan's friend, John Peel, in [[Fayetteville, AR]] by phone on [[February 21]], [[2008]] (Sherman Morgan died in 2001).</ref><ref name="Fayetteville newspaper report of death">Staff reports. "Gunshot Wounds Fatal", ''Northwest Arkansas Times'', [[June 5]], [[1978]]. Police reported that Stanford was dead on their arrival to the home at 7:28 p.m.; Deputy Coroner Hugh Huppert subsequently ruled the death a suicide.</ref> ===Death=== [[Image:FrankStanford St. Benedict sCemetery.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Stanford's grave in St. Benedict's Cemetery at [[Subiaco, Arkansas|Subiaco, Arkansas]].]] On the Saturday evening of [[June 3]], [[1978]], Stanford took his own life in his home in Fayetteville.<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Academy of American Poets- Frank Stanford">[http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/730 Frank Stanford], [[Academy of American Poets]], 2008.</ref><ref name="Fayetteville newspaper report of death"/> In her essay, [http://www.alsopreview.com/thecollections/stanford/Essays/gsdeath.html "Death In The Cool Evening,"] widow Ginny Stanford notes that her husband had committed [[adultery]].<ref name="Ginny Stanford's essay">Stanford, Ginny. [http://www.alsopreview.com/thecollections/stanford/Essays/gsdeath.html "Death In The Cool Evening"], ''The Portable Plateau'', 1:1. [[Joplin, Missouri]]: Ridgerunner Press. 1997; ''The Alsop Review'' (reprint). The essay as published in ''The Portable Plateau'' differs by two additional sentences and Frank Stanford’s poem, “Death In The Cool Evening,” included as the epilogue.</ref> Following an argument about the matter, Stanford retreated to his bedroom, and moments later, gunshots were heard: Stanford had thrice shot himself in the heart with a [[Caliber#Firearms|.22-caliber]] target [[Handgun|pistol]].<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Fayetteville newspaper report of death"/><ref name="Ginny Stanford's essay"/><ref name="Type of handgun">[http://alsopreview.com/thecollections.htm Stanford’s bio] at the ''Alsop Review'' reports a “.22 revolver.” At least three other accounts describe a pistol: [http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/feature.html?id=181083 “The Long Goodbye”] (Poetry Foundation, 2008) refers to a “.22-caliber target pistol”; in a 1997 essay, C. D. Wright describes a "target pistol"; newspaper accounts published at the time also referred to a “.22 caliber pistol.” Thus, information in ''Alsop Review'' is likely a misprint.</ref> Both Ginny Stanford and the poet's lover, C.D. Wright, were in the house (in different rooms) at the time of his death.<ref name="Fayetteville newspaper report of death"/><ref name="Finders, Losers-January 2, 1979">[[Lorenzo Thomas (poet)|Thomas, Lorenzo]]. [http://writing.upenn.edu/epc/authors/thomas/thomas_stanford.html "Finders, Losers: Frank Stanford's Song Of The South"], [[January 2]], [[1979]].</ref> Stanford's funeral was held on Tuesday, [[June 6]] at 1 p.m. at [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/media/gallery/photo/Subiaco1_f.jpg Subiaco Abbey Church];<ref name="Fayetteville newspaper report of death"/> he was buried in St. Benedict's Cemetery at [[Subiaco, Arkansas|Subiaco]] beneath a stand of [[Pinus classification#Subgenus Pinus - yellow or hard pines|yellow pines]], five miles (eight km) from the [[Arkansas River]]. Aside from conceivable shame, other potentially oppressive factors may have motivated Stanford's [[suicide]]. For instance, some of the poet's peers and others have suggested that he may have intended to die before the age of 30.<ref>Mencin, Justin Caldwell (a poet contemporary) by phone on [[February 28]], [[2008]], and Stokesbury (among others) have stated that they believe this to be a potential motive.</ref> Furthermore, Father Fuhrmann, who had met with Stanford shortly before his death, feels that the poet had "a lot on his mind,"<ref name="Father Nicholas Fuhrmann, 2008"/> and Wright and Ginny Stanford reported that the poet was depressed and withdrawn on the day of his suicide.<ref name="Fayetteville newspaper report of death"/> Stanford had also spent time at the [http://www.uams.edu/psych/divisions/state_hospital.asp Arkansas State Hospital] (the state [[psychiatric hospital]]) in [[Little Rock, AR|Little Rock]] in 1972<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Phone conversation with the former Linda Mencin"/> and may have had prior suicide attempts.<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref>The earnestness of the suicide attempts cited in Ehrenreich's article is questionable; it's possible that Stanford may have been drunk, joking, or merely expounding on his own mythology.</ref> ==Legacy== Frank Stanford's legacy is one shrouded in (and perhaps tainted by) legend, mystification, and inaccuracies. Stanford frequently embellished his letters<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/> and personal anecdotes,<ref name=" C. D. Wright’s June 2, 1998 letter"/> and numerous misprints rampant throughout published articles and essays have confused even the most elemental details, hindering potential for critical scholarship. For example, a 2002 misprint in ''Poets & Writers'' credits Stanford, not [[Irving Broughton|Broughton]], as the founder of Mill Mountain Press.<ref name="P&W, Broughton on Stanford"/><ref name="P&W, Trace of a Tale">Holman, Bob. [http://www.pw.org/content/%5Btitle%5D_1124 "Trace of a Tale: C. D. Wright: An Investigative Poem"], ''Poets & Writers Magazine'', May 2002.</ref> Even Stanford's very books have printed biographical and bibliographical errors; for instance, the biographical note for the posthumously published book, ''Crib Death'', states that Stanford was "born in 1949 in Greenville, Mississippi," when in fact he was born in 1948 in Richton, Mississippi, some {{convert|240|mi|km}} away,<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/><ref name="Oxford American, Winter 2006"/><ref name="Crib Death">Stanford, Frank. ''Crib Death''. Kensington, CA: Ironwood Press. 1978.</ref> and the [[table of contents]] for ''The Light The Dead See: Selected Poems of Frank Stanford'' lists ''The Singing Knives'' as having been published in 1972 and ''Crib Death'' as having been published in 1979, when in fact they were published in 1971 and 1978, respectively.<ref name="P&W, Broughton on Stanford"/><ref name="Crib Death"/><ref name="The Light The Dead See"/> It should be noted, though, that many inaccuracies surrounding Stanford's legacy are result of Stanford's own self-mythology, his own fabrications. [[Image:Crib Death.jpg|thumb|left|190px|The [[Book cover|cover]] of ''Crib Death'' (1978), published shortly after Stanford's death.]] ===Posthumous works=== {| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 0em; font-size: 91%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:16.5em; max-width: 100%;" cellspacing="8" | style="text-align: left;" | '''Instead''' Death is a good word.<br> It often returns<br> When it is very<br> Dark outside and hot,<br> Like a fisherman<br> Over the limit,<br> Without pain, sex,<br> Or melancholy.<br> Young as I am, I<br> Hold light for this boat.<br> When the rest of you<br> Were being children<br> I became a monk<br> To my own listing<br> Imagination.<br> Nights and days floated<br> Over the whorehouse<br> Like webs on the lake,<br> A monastery<br> Full of noise and girls.<br> The moon throws the knives.<br> The poets echo goodbye,<br> Towing silence too.<br> Near my house was an<br> Island, where a horse<br> Lathered up alone.<br> Oh, Abednego<br> He was called, dusky,<br> Cruel as a poem<br> To a black gypsy.<br> Sadness and whiskey<br> Cost more than friends.<br> I visit prisons,<br> Orphanages, joints,<br> Hoping I'll see them<br> Again. Willows, ice,<br> Minnows, no money.<br> You'll have to say it<br> Soon, you know. To your<br> Wife, your child, yourself.<br> |- | style="text-align: left;" | <small>Frank Stanford, ©1979.</small><ref name="Instead">Stanford, Frank. ''You''. [[Fayetteville, AR]]: [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]]. 1979. ISBN 0918786169. No place given: [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]]. 2008. ISBN 0918786568. "Instead" reprinted here with permission from [[C.D. Wright]], rights holder.</ref></small> |} Ironwood Press published Stanford's chapbook, ''Crib Death'', in 1978, shortly after the poet's death. [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]], editorship succeeded by [[C.D. Wright]], published a posthumous chapbook of yet more of Stanford's poems, titled ''You'' (as well as a limited edition [[Reprint#Book publishing|reprint]] of ''The Singing Knives''), in 1979. In 1990,<ref name="Conditions Uncertain">Stanford, Frank. ''Conditions Uncertain And Likely To Pass Away''. [[Providence, RI]]: [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]] no. 37, 1990. ISBN 0918786428. Re: date of publication, some sources list "1991" (date on book's [[Back cover#Front cover.2C spine.2C and back cover of the dust-jacket|back cover]]), but [[title page]] and copyright page print 1990.</ref> the press released a collection of Stanford's [[Short story|short fiction]], titled ''Conditions Uncertain And Likely To Pass Away''. A 111-page volume of selected poems, ''[http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/uaprinfo/public_html/titles/backlist/literature/poetry/poems.html#stanford_lightdead The Light The Dead See: Selected Poems of Frank Stanford]'', was published the following year by the University of Arkansas Press.<ref name="The Light The Dead See">Stanford, Frank. ''The Light The Dead See: Selected Poems of Frank Stanford'', p ix. Leon Stokesbury, ed. [[Fayetteville, AR]]: The University of Arkansas Press. 1991.</ref> Furthermore, much of Stanford's work is as yet unpublished,<ref name="TSK Epilogue, 1979 edition"/><ref name="Before Columbus Poetry Anthology"/><ref name="Rain Taxi 1998"/> including the manuscripts: ''The Flour The Dead Man Brings To The Wedding'' and ''The Last Panther In The Ozarks'' (which combine to make one [[manuscript]]), ''Automatic Co-Pilot'',<ref name="Oxford American, Winter 2006"/> ''Plain Songs'' (after Jean Follain), and ''Wounds'', among others.<ref name="C.D. Wright's January 18, 2008 email">[[C.D. Wright]] by email on [[February 18]], [[2008]].</ref> ===Distribution=== Despite flourishing interest in Frank Stanford's work, large publishing houses have yet to develop interest in the poet. Stanford's small press publishers to date — Mill Mountain, Ironwood, and Lost Roads — have faced variable limitations with respect to production and distribution, most of Stanford's titles having been released as [[limited edition]] [[chapbooks]], long since [[out of print]]. In October 2000, [http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Literary_Arts/projects/road/ Lost Roads] republished [http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Literary_Arts/projects/road/stanford ''The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You''] in a corrected edition with numbered lines, and the press reprinted the book again in 2008. On [[February 1]], [[2008]], Lost Roads reissued ''The Singing Knives'' and ''You''. ===Reception=== Frank Stanford's work has been described as surrealistic tall tales— poems of wild embellishment with recurring characters in an imaginary landscape, drawn from his childhood in the [[Mississippi Delta]] and the [[Ozarks|Ozark mountains]]. ====Cultural response==== Stanford has been written about in at least two [[Folk music|folk songs]]: the [[Indigo Girls]]' "Three Hits" and [[Lucinda Williams]]' "Pineola."<ref name="Poets.org, Williams family">[[Academy of American Poets]]. [http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5824 "Miller & Lucinda Williams: All in the Family"], ''Poets.org'', 2004. Williams' father is [[Miller Williams]], a [[professor]] of [[creative writing]] at the [[University of Arkansas]].</ref><ref name="New Yorker Profile 2000">Buford, Bill. [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2000/06/05/2000_06_05_050_TNY_LIBRY_000020984 "Delta Nights"], ''[[The New Yorker]]'', [[June 5]], [[2000]].</ref> [[Image: PortablePlateau V1N1 Summer.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Ginny Stanford's essay, "Death In The Cool Evening" (1997), in ''The Portable Plateau''.<ref name="Ginny Stanford's essay"/>]] In the 1990s, Ginny Stanford and C.D. Wright published accounts of their respective relationships to Stanford, both during his life and afterward. Ginny Stanford published two essays: “Requiem: A Fragment,” in ''The New Orleans Review'' in 1994,<ref name="Ginny Stanford’s New Orleans Review essay">Stanford, Ginny. "Requiem: A Fragment," ''The New Orleans Review.'' [[New Orleans, LA]]: [[Loyola University]], 1994.</ref> and its companion piece of sorts, "Death In The Cool Evening," in ''The Portable Plateau'' in 1997.<ref name="Ginny Stanford's essay"/> Photos of Frank Stanford by the widow accompanied her essays in both publications. Also in 1997, ''[[Conjunctions]]'' published C.D. Wright’s essay, “Frank Stanford, Of The Mulberry Family: An Arkansas Epilogue.”<ref name=“Conjunctions 29”>Wright, C.D. “Frank Stanford, Of the Mulberry Family: An Arkansas Epilogue,” ''[[Conjunctions]]'', 29. [[Bard College]], 1997.</ref> Stanford had a profound impact on regional poets, and 1997 saw significant homegrown activity in [[Arkansas]] and [[Missouri]]. A tribute to Stanford on [[July 26]], [[1997]] featured [[Poetry reading|readings]] of Stanford's poetry and a [[Film screening|screening]] of ''[[It Wasn't A Dream, It Was A Flood]]'' at Vox Anima Artspace, a Mountain Street gallery in [[Fayetteville]].<ref>Formerly at 7 E. Mountain St., [[Fayetteville, AR]]. Leilani Law, Curator, with Brent Long coordinating the tribute.</ref> Along with "Death In The Cool Evening," ''The Portable Plateau'' reprinted four of Stanford's poems and an essay recounting the return of Stanford's sister, Ruth, to Fayetteville for the July tribute.<ref name="Michael Hoerman’s essay">Hoerman, Michael. [http://michaelhoerman.com/Frank_Stanfords_Lost_Roads.pdf "Frank Stanford’s Lost Roads"], ''The Portable Plateau'', 1:1, Summer 1997.</ref> In April 2003, [[New York City|New York]]'s [http://www.bowerypoetry.com/ Bowery Poetry Club] held an all-night reading of ''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]''.<ref name="New York Times, April 11, 2003">[[Billy Collins|Collins, Billy]]. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4D7163BF932A25757C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 “The Ballad of the Ballad, Poetry's Bearer of Bad News”] ''[[The New York Times]]''. [[April 11]], [[2003]].</ref> ====Critical response==== Stanford's work has also received critical praise. [[Alan Dugan]] — [[Pulitzer Prize]] winner and [[National Book Award]] recipient — called Stanford “a brilliant poet, ample in his work,” comparing him to [[Walt Whitman]].<ref name="R.C. Hall's article"/> Poet [[Franz Wright]] called him "one of the great voices of death"<ref name="Poetry Foundation-January 2008"/> and, at a 2004 [[Poetry reading|reading]], dedicated a poem to Stanford, commenting that he had followed Stanford's poetry in publications in the 1970s.<ref name="Concord Poetry Center, 10/16/2004">Poetry Reading by Franz Wright. Concord Poetry Center, 40 Stow Street, [[Concord, MA]]. [[October 16]], [[2004]].</ref><ref name="Ironwood 17">Cuddihy, Michael, ed. ''The Ironwood Review'', Issue 17, pp 105, 137. [[Tuscon, AZ]]. 1981.</ref> Poet [[Lorenzo Thomas (poet)|Lorenzo Thomas]] called him "amazing ... a swamprat [[Arthur Rimbaud|Rimbaud]],<ref name="Finders, Losers-January 2, 1979"/> poet [[James Wright]] referred to him as a "superbly accomplished and moving poet," and poet [[Richard Eberhart]] praised the "strange grace of language in the poet’s remarkable, unforgettable body of work."<ref name="Ironwood 17"/> Leon Stokesbury introduces ''The Light The Dead See'' by claiming that Stanford was, "at the time of his death, the best poet in America under the age of thirty-five."<ref name="The Light The Dead See"/> His contemporaries remarked his “perfectly tuned” ears,<ref>[[Thomas Lux|Lux, Thomas]]. "'Brother Leo Told Me The Bell Was Ringing': On Frank Stanford," ''[[FIELD (magazine)|FIELD]]'', Issue 52, pp 49-55. [[Oberlin, OH]]. 1979.</ref> the “remarkable acuity” of his “clear-cut imagery and spring-tight lines,”<ref>[[Lee Upton|Upton, Lee]]. Review of ''The Light The Dead See'', [[Mid-American Review]], Issue 13.1-2, pp 207-10. [[Bowling Green State University]]; [[Bowling Green, Ohio|Bowling Green, OH]]. 1991.</ref> and his “remarkable talent” as a “testimony to [his] place in American letters.”<ref>Bradley, John. Review of ''The Light The Dead See'', [[The Bloomsbury Review]], p 30, July/August 1991.</ref> However, Stanford's legacy has been largely overlooked in the [[Western canon|canonization]] process of poetry anthologies and university literature courses. He is one of the least known of the significant voices of [[Poetry of the United States|American poetry]] of the [[1970s in literature|1970s]], yet in his day he was widely published in many prominent magazines, including ''[[American Poetry Review]]'',<ref>Stanford's poetry in two issues. ''[[American Poetry Review]]'', Vol. 4, No. 2; 1975. Vol. 8, No. 2; 1979. [[Philadelphia, PA]]: ''[[American Poetry Review]]''.</ref> ''Chicago Review'',<ref>''Chicago Review'', Vol. 23, No. 1. [[Chicago, IL]]: [[University of Chicago]]. 1971.</ref> ''[[FIELD (magazine)|FIELD]]'',<ref>Stanford's poetry in three issues. ''[[FIELD (magazine)|FIELD]]'', Issue 10, Spring 1974; Issue 11, August 1974; Issue 12, Spring 1975. [[Oberlin, OH]]: [[Oberlin College]].</ref> ''[[The Iowa Review]]'',<ref>Stanford's poetry in three issues. ''[[The Iowa Review]]'', Vol. 3, No. 3; Summer 1972. Vol. 5, No. 2; Spring 1974. Vol. 5, No. 4; Spring 1974. [[Iowa City, IA]]: [[University of Iowa]].</ref> ''Ironwood'',<ref>Stanford's poetry in three issues while living. Cuddihy, Michael, ed. ''Ironwood'', Issue 4, 1974; Issue 6, 1975; Issue 9, Spring 1977. [[Tuscon, AZ|Tuscon]]: Ironwood Press.</ref> ''kayak'',<ref>Hitchcock, George, ed. ''kayak'', Issue 26. [[Santa Cruz, CA]]: Kayak Books. 1971.</ref> ''[[The Massachusetts Review]]'',<ref>''[[The Massachusetts Review]]'' Vol. xiii, No. 4. [[Amherst, MA]]: [[University of Massachusetts]]. August 1972.</ref> ''The Mill Mountain Review'',<ref name="Mill Mountain Review"/> ''[[The Nation]]'',<ref>''[[The Nation]]'', Vol. 213, No. 10. [[New York City|New York]]: The Nation Associates, Inc. 1971.</ref> ''[[The American Review|New American Review]]'',<ref>Solotaroff, Theodore, ed. ''[[The American Review|New American Review]]'', No. 11. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Simon & Schuster]]. 1971.</ref> ''[[New York Quarterly|The New York Quarterly]]'',<ref>Packard, William, ed. ''[[New York Quarterly|The New York Quarterly]]'', Issue 15. Summer 1973. [[New York City|New York]]: New York Quarterly Poetry Review Foundation. 1973.</ref> ''Poetry Now'',<ref>''Poetry Now'', Vol. 1, No. 2. 1975.</ref> and ''[[Prairie Schooner]]''.<ref>''[[Prairie Schooner]]'', Vol. 48, No. 3. [[Lincoln, NE]]: University of Nebraska Press. 1974.</ref><ref>[http://www.verdantpress.com/frankstanford.html Frank Stanford bibliography], Verdant Press, 2008.</ref> ==Bibliography== *''The Singing Knives'' (Mill Mountain Press, 1971;<ref name="The Singing Knives"/> [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]], 1979, 2008) *''Ladies From Hell'' (Mill Mountain Press, 1974) *''Field Talk'' (Mill Mountain Press, 1975) *''Shade'' (Mill Mountain Press, 1975<ref name="Shade"/>) *''Arkansas Bench Stone'' (Mill Mountain Press, 1975) *''Constant Stranger'' (Mill Mountain Press, 1976) *''[[The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You]]'' (Mill Mountain Press/[[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]], 1977;<ref name="1997 Battlefield"/> [[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]], 2000) *''Crib Death'' (Ironwood Press, 1978) *''You'' ([[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]], 1979, 2008) *''Conditions Uncertain And Likely To Pass Away'' ([[Lost Roads Publishers|Lost Roads]], 1990<ref name="Conditions Uncertain"/>) *''The Light The Dead See: Selected Poems of Frank Stanford'' (University of Arkansas Press, 1991) ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== *[http://www.verdantpress.com/frankstanford.html Frank Stanford bibliography at Verdant Press] *[http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/730 Frank Stanford at the Academy of American Poets] *[http://www.alsopreview.com/thecollections/stanford/stanford.html Poetry, photographs, essays and letters at The Alsop Review] *[http://www.raintaxi.com/online/1998fall/stanford.shtml "The Life And Work of Frank Stanford" at Rain Taxi, Fall 1998] *[http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/feature.html?id=181083 "The Long Goodbye" by Ben Ehrenreich at The Poetry Foundation, 1/2008] {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanford, Frank}} [[Category:1948 births]] [[Category:1978 deaths]] [[Category:American poets]] [[Category:Arkansas writers]] [[Category:Missouri writers]] [[Category:People from Arkansas]] [[Category:Writers who committed suicide]]