Miles Wilson was the founding director of the MFA program in creative writing at Texas State University, where he is Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He is the author of three prize-winning books: Fire Season (2014), Harm (2003), and Line of Fall (1989.) His newest book, Woodswork: New and Selected Stories of the American West, is forthcoming in 2018 from the University of New Mexico Press.
Wilson served three fire seasons (1964, 1965, 1967) as a member of the Dalton Hotshots, a U.S. Forest Service Interregional Fire Crew based on the Angeles National Forest in California. While serving with the Dalton Hotshots, Wilson received a Bachelors degree in English at Pomona College and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Oregon.
He is the recipient of numerous awards for his previous publications, including the John Simmons Short Fiction Award from the University of Iowa Press for Line of Fall and the Violet Crown Book Award from the Writer's League of Texas/Barnes & Noble for Harm. He has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. Wilson currently divides his time between San Marcos, Texas and his native Oregon.
MILES WILSON PAPERS
ARCHIVAL INVENTORY
Archival materials author Miles Wilson from 1965-2016, representing two major donations from Wilson: Accession #2016-130 and Accession # 2018-061
Accession #2016-130
Majority of the materials in the collection are manuscript drafts for Line of Fall and Fire Season. Included are book catalogs; royalties for the drafts; and characters analyses and synopsis for Fire Season. Some of the materials within the collection are in poor condition because they were charred in a fire. The folder titles preceding a semicolon reflect Wilson’s original descriptions.
Accession # 2018-061
Archival materials from author Miles Wilson dating 1965-2016. Material includes correspondence pertaining to the acquisition of the J. Frank Dobie papers by William Wittliff and the inception of the Southwest Writers Collection at Southwest Texas State University (Texas State University) San Marcos, Texas, as well as annotated drafts of early poetry and short prose; submissions to various poetry and short story anthologies; rejection slips and editor correspondence. The bulk of the material includes drafts of poems eventually included in the anthology Harm: Poems and early manuscript drafts of Going the Distance and Fire Season. Included are correspondence, royalty statements, reviews, marketing materials and annotated manuscripts for Harm and Fire Season. The folder titles preceding a semicolon reflect Wilson’s original descriptions.
BOX 2486 (1 of 4)
Box Folder
2486 1 “Line of Fall: Iowa”; Correspondence on Line of Fall, 1989-2006 (1 of 2)
2486 2 “Line of Fall: Iowa”; Correspondence and notes on Line of Fall, 1989-1992 (2 of 2)
2486 3 “Royalties: Miles Wilson”; Royalties that Wilson received throughout the years, 1996-2013
2486 4 University of Iowa Press book catalogs, 1989-2004 (1 of 2)
2486 5 University of Iowa Press book catalogs, 1987-2000 (2 of 2)
2486 6 “Everything”; Annotated “Everything” manuscript draft, undated
2486 7 “Gospel Hump”; Annotated “Gospel Hump” draft and notes, undated
2486 8 “The Lord of Misrule at Separation Creek”; Annotated manuscript drafts, undated
2486 9 “On Tour with Max”; Annotated manuscript drafts, including The Dallas Morning News article about “On Tour with Max”, 1995-2009
2486 10 “Outrider”; Annotated manuscript drafts and notes, undated
2486 11 “Toliver”; Annotated manuscript drafts and notes, undated
2486 12 “Wyoming”; Annotated drafts, undated
2486 13 “Going Away”; Annotated manuscript drafts and notes, undated
2486 14 “Figuring the Quiet”; Annotated manuscript drafts, [Fall 1965]
2486 15 “Long Green”; Annotated manuscript drafts and notes, undated
2486 16 “Baja”; Annotated “Baja” manuscript drafts and notes, 1966
2486 17 Fire Season by Wilson, part 1, pgs. 1-78, 1966-1976
2486 18 Fire Season by Wilson, part 2, pgs. 79-133, 1966-1976
2486 19 Fire Season by Wilson, part 3, pgs. 134-213, 1966-1976
2486 20 Fire Season by Wilson, part 4, pgs. 214-266, 1966-1976
2486 21 Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 1-132, undated (1 of 2)
2486 22 Fire Season manuscript drafts, pgs. 133-244, undated (2 of 2)
BOX 2487 (2 of 4)
Box Folder
2487 1 Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 1-137, undated (1 of 2)
2487 2 Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 138-267, undated (2 of 2)
2487 3 Fire Season manuscript draft by Wilson, pgs. 1-127, undated (1 of 2)
2487 4 Fire Season manuscript draft by Wilson, pgs. 128-239, undated (2 of 2)
2487 5 Fire Season, bound manuscript, undated
2487 6 Fire Season, bound copy, 2014
2487 7 “AWP Entries & Synopsis”; Themes and synopsis for Fire Season, including a letter from Associated Writing Program, 1985
2487 8 “Fire Season Hand Notes”; Notes on Fire Season, undated
2487 9 Title page and pg. 266 of Fire Season, undated
2487 10 “Fire Season Drafts, 1971-.”; Annotated manuscript draft, pgs. 1-162, 1985 (1 of 2)
2487 11 “Fire Season Drafts, 1971-.”; Annotated manuscript drafts, pgs. 163-247, 1985 (2 of 2)
2487 12 Unknown burned manuscript drafts, undated
2487 13 “2006 Year Sier: drafts, notes, letters, reads”; Correspondence, notes, and annotated manuscript drafts of Fire Season, 1982-1994
2487 14 “Fire Season: SFA Press/ Contests/ Cover”; Fire Season cover, reviews, and correspondence, 2012-2014
2487 15 “Agents/Editors-Fire Season”; Correspondence from Random House, Atlantic Monthly Press, and others, 1981-2007
2487 16 “Hepworth/Conference/Fire Season”; Correspondence and book catalogs, 1987-1993
2487 17 “Utah-Fire Season”; Correspondence between Wilson and University of Utah Press, and Request for Proposal, 1989-2008
2487 18 “SMV-Fire Season”; Correspondence and reviews on Fire Season, 1991
2487 19 “Novel Synopsis”; Fire Season synopsis, undated
2487 20 Annotated manuscript draft of Fire Season, including notes, pgs. 1-171, undated
BOX 2488 (3 of 4)
Box Folder
2488 1 “Fire Season/ [?] Rev./ 150 pp”; Annotated Fire Season manuscript draft, [1994]
2488 2 Annotated manuscript draft of Fire Season, pgs. 1-273, [1994]
2488 3 Annotated Fire Season draft, including synopsis, pgs. 1-115, [1976] (1 of 2)
2488 4 Annotated Fire Season draft, including synopsis, pgs. 116-266, [1976] (2 of 2)
2488 5 Annotated Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 1-110, [1976] (1 of 2)
2488 6 Annotated Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 111-266, [1976] (2 of 2)
2488 7 Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 1-88, undated (1 of 3)
2488 8 Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 89-161, undated (2 of 3)
2488 9 Fire Season manuscript draft, pgs. 162-244, undated (3 of 3)
2488 10 Synopsis, themes, and character analysis for Fire Season, undated
2488 11 Annotated First Draft of Fire Season, undated
2488 12 Annotated Fire Season draft, including letter to “Kim” about corrections for the book, pgs. 1-169, 2014
2488 13 2nd PDF from Stephen F. Austin Press (SFA) of Fire Season, pgs. 1-169, Dec. 13, 2013
2488 14 Annotated Fire Season draft, including notes on the novel, and Miles Wilson Document Summary, [2013]
2488 15 Manuscript draft of Line of Fall, edited by Kathy Lewis, pgs. 1-234, May 5, 1989
2488 16 The Line of Fall page proofs, including correspondence between Wilson and Kathy Lewis, pgs. 1-180, 1989
BOX 2489 (4 of 4)
Box Folder
2489 1 Line of Fall, page proofs, Annotated, pgs. 1-180, 1989
2489 2 Annotated manuscript draft of Line of Fall, undated
2489 3 Annotated manuscript draft of Line of Fall, pgs. 1-234, [1989]
2489 4 Annotated Line of Fall: A Collection of Short Stories draft, pgs. 1-204, 1977-1987
2489 5 Annotated manuscript draft of Line of Fall, pgs. 1-178, [1989]
2489 6 Three copies of posters for Miles Wilson Reading Event, March 17, 1988
BOX 2778 (1 of 4)
Box Folder
2778 1 “Wittliff: Dobie-Southwest Collection”; Correspondence, newspaper articles and notes on the inception of the Wittliff Collections, 1986-1990 (1 of 2)
2778 2 “Wittliff: Dobie-Southwest Collection”; Correspondence, newspaper articles, newsletters and notes on the inception and opening of the Wittliff Southwestern Writers Collection, 1986-1994 (2 of 2)
2778 3 “Hearon, Bird, Harrigan-SW Writers Dedication”; TKL writers event
memorandums, author stipends, payment vouchers. Includes correspondence with Stephen Harrigan, Sarah Bird and Shelby Hearon, 1986, 1991
2778 4 “TKL-Holland $“; TKL funding of Dick Holland salary and R.G. Vliet
estate, 1993
2778 5 “Ann Vliet-R.G. Vliet”; Notes on appraisal value of Vliet collection, March, no year
2778 6 “Baird Ranch”; Correspondence pertaining to the Baird Ranch endowment and the creation of the Southwest Studies program, 1989
2778 7 “Task Force: SW Writers Collection and Center”; Correspondence,
news clippings, newsletters and proposals pertaining to The Center for the Study of the Southwest, Southwest Texas State, 1989-1992
2778 8 “The Near Coast of Darkness/Thesis”; Annotated manuscripts of “The
Near Coast of Darkness”, 1966
2778 9 “Apology for Being Your Husband”; Annotated drafts of the poem,
undated
2778 10 “Donna at Bagby”; Annotated drafts of “Donna at Bagby”, undated
2778 11 “Blood-You a Week from Wednesday”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 12 “Proposal to My Wife”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 13 “Report to the Founding Fathers”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 14 “Denver Girls”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 15 “Snow Driving”; Annotated drafts and unedited copies of the poem, undated
2778 16 “For Fifteen Dollars”; Annotated draft of the poem, undated
2778 17 “George the Dog”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 18 “Oath at Caliber Creek”; Annotated drafts and typescript copies of the poem, undated
2778 19 “She Was a Good Woman”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 20 “Turtz in the Provinces”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 21 “Union Scale”; Annotated draft of the poem, undated
2778 22 “A Vision of Green”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 23 “A Wheat God Dying Young”; Annotated drafts and unedited copy of poem, undated
2778 24 “After the Blizzard”; Annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 25 “Baja”; Typescript copies and annotated drafts of the poem, undated
2778 26 “Believing in Texas”; Typescript copy and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 27 “Blossom Bar, Pistol River”; Annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 28 “Body”; Typescript copy and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 29 “Body Song”; Typescript copies and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 30 “Claire (Kate) If You Come”; Typescript copies and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 31 “Fathers”; Typescript copies and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 32 “For San Dwayne Francisco”; Typescript copies, annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 33 “A Geography of the John Day River”; Critique of Wilson poems, typescript copies and annotated drafts of the poem “A Geography of the John Day River”, undated, 2007
2778 34 “Provisions (Getting There)”; Typescript copy and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 35 “Harney County/High Desert/Dying in Oregon-See Blossom Bar”; Typescript copies and annotated Drafts of poem, undated
2778 36 “Horsepasture Mountain Lookout”; Typescript copies and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 37 “Husband in the Garden”; Typescript copy of poem, undated
2778 38 “In Hand”; Typescript copies and annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 39 “Into It”; Annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 40 “Joe, Dead”; Annotated, handwritten draft of poem, undated
2778 41 “Keeping Track”; Typescript copy of poem, undated
2778 42 “Last Spring”; Typescript copy of poem, undated
2778 43 “Life and Death”; Typescript, annotated copies of poem, undated
2778 44 “Light and Dark at Meacham Pass”; Typescript and handwritten annotated drafts of poem, undated
2778 45 “Night Beach Snake”; Annotated typescript draft and typescript copy, undated
2778 46 “Nights in Crosley” Annotated typescript draft of poem, photocopy of
handwritten draft, undated
2778 47 “Notes from the End of a Five-Year Marriage”; Typescript copy of poem annotated typescript drafts, undated
2778 48 “Out Of”; Annotate holograph and typescript drafts of poem, undated
2778 49 “The Promise Keepers”; Annotated holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 50 “Provisions”; Annotated typescript drafts of poem, undated
2778 51 “Rider”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 52 “The Rising”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 53 “Sanctuaries”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 54 “Short Season in the North Cascades”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript drafts of poem, letter to “the editor”, March 8, undated
2778 55 “Stripper”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 56 “Taking Stock”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 57 “Terminal/Evidence”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 58 “These Days”; Typescript copy and annotated holograph draft of poem, undated
2778 59 “Things to Know in Wedderburn”; Typescript copy and annotated typescript drafts of poem, undated
2778 60 “The View from Frissel Point”; Typescript copy, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem
2778 61 “Vita”; Typescript copy and annotated typescript drafts of the poem “The Vita”, typescript annotated drafts of the poems “Apology for Death” and “One Against Death”, undated
2778 62 “Whitehorse Rim”; Typescript copies and annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 63 “The Will to Fail”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
2778 64 “You, Theodore Roethke”; Typescript copies, annotated typescript and holograph drafts of poem, undated
BOX 2779 (2 of 4)
Box Folder
2779 1 “H.S/College Journal/Notes”; annotated typescript short prose, journal entries undated
2779 2 “The Rising”; Annotated typescript drafts of “The Rising”, undated
2779 3 “The Last Full Measure”; Poems, annotated typescript drafts of “The Last Full Measure”, undated
2779 4 “From the Kansas City Terminal”; Annotated, typescript draft, undated
2779 5 “The Sound of Laughter”; Annotated typescript draft, undated
2779 6 “Suppose a Wind”; Annotated typescript drafts, undated
2779 7 “Poems-Juvenilia”; Annotated typescript drafts of titled and untitled poems, undated
2779 8 “Prose-Juvenilia”; Annotated typescript drafts of short stories, 1965
2779 9 “Texas Tech Poetry Ass.”; Texas Tech University Press correspondence, 1991-1992
2779 10 “Naomi Nye-Texas Obs Poems”; Correspondence with Naomi Nye of The Texas Observer, annotated typescript draft of “Believing in Texas, 1995-1996
2779 11 “Scott Slovic/Isle Poems”; Correspondence with Scott Slovic, University of Nevada, Reno, 1995
2779 12 “Ahsahta/Illinois Poetry Mss.”; Poetry manuscripts and correspondence submitted to Ahsahta Press and the University of Missouri press, rejection letters, notes, 1982-1991
2779 13 “Saner/Harm”; Correspondence with Reg Saner. 2002, undated
2779 14 “John Nichols 1994”; Letter to John Nichols requesting manuscript review of Harm, 1994
2779 15 “Rick Bass-Harm”; Correspondence and notes, 2001-1002
2779 16 “Scott Slovic-Harm”; Correspondence between Wilson and Slovic, 2002
2779 17 “Royalty Statements Harm”; Royalty statements for Harm, 2004-2013
2779 18 “Harm-Reader Reports/Editorial Board My Responses”; Reader reports, editorial board meeting, correspondence and notes University of Nevada Press, 1998-2000
2779 19 “Harm – Reviews & Ads”; Reviews and ads for Harm, correspondence with the University of Nevada Press, 2003-2010
2779 20 Correspondence concerning Harm, University of Nevada Press release, cover photo, 2003-2004
2779 21 “Chris Campbell/Marketing/Author’s Questionnaire”; Marketing, author’s questionnaire, book endorsements, correspondence pertaining to the publication of Harm, 2002-2003
2779 22 “Harm/Nevada/Campbell/House et/emails”; CD, correspondence pertaining Harm marketing, awards, cover design University of Nevada press, 2002-2004
2779 23 “Nevada-Harm”; Correspondence pertaining to Harm, public contract, 1998-2002
2779 24 Harm University of Nevada Press correspondence, original and copyedited manuscript, 2000, 2003
2779 25 “Harm: Corrected Page Proofs”; Correspondence and corrected page proofs for Harm, 2002
2779 26 “Harm”; Author annotated manuscript drafts of Harm, correspondence with the University of Nevada Press, 2001
2779 27 “M. Dalrymple: Emails and Copyedited mss.”; Correspondence with Margaret Dalrymple pertaining to Harm, copyedited manuscript, 2002
2779 28 “6”; Holograph notes on Harm with page numbers and sections, Going the Distance manuscript, undated
2779 29 “5”; Going the Distance annotated manuscript, undated
2779 30 “4”; Going the Distance manuscript, undated
2779 31 “3”; Going the Distance manuscript, undated
2779 32 “2”; Going the Distance annotated manuscript, undated
2779 33 “Miles Wilson Excerpts from Going the Distance 1”; manuscript, undated
2779 34 “Earliest Version of Harm (Bone)”; Bone manuscript, rejection letter from Yale University Press, undated
BOX 2780 (3 of 4)
Box Folder
2780 1 “Texas Short Stories II-Body”; Correspondence pertaining to the submission and acceptance of “Body”, 1998-1999
2780 2 “Best Texas Writing 2-1998/99”; Correspondence regarding the of the submission of “Why God Must Permit Everything”, 1998-1999
2780 3 “Baseball Anthology”; Correspondence regarding submissions to SIU Press “Writing Baseball” series, 1998
2780 4 “Great Pool Stories”; Great Pool Stories anthology correspondence, 1994-1995
2780 5 “Univ N. Texas-Poetry Anthol.”; Correspondence regarding the University of North Texas Press Ray Gonzalez poetry anthology 1994-1996
2780 6 “Arts & Letters Live/Texas Bound”; Correspondence regarding Texas Bound reading series, 1994-1998
2780 7 “Best of Texas: 96 Rancho Loco”; Correspondence regarding the Best of Texas Writing series Rancho Loco Press, 1996
2780 8 “Texas Short Fiction (III)? I?”; Correspondence regarding submissions to Texas Short Fiction III, 1996
2780 9 “Go Tell It on the Mtn: Anthology”; Correspondence, 1996
2780 10 “Oregon Lit. Anthol-Fiction & Poetry”; Correspondence regarding inclusion in the Oregon Literature Series, 1992-1993
2780 11 “Writers Forum Anthology”; Correspondence regarding submission to Higher Elevations: A Writer’s Forum Anthology, 1992-1993
2780 12 “Gulf Coast Anthology”; Correspondence regarding submission to Gulf Coast Collection of Stories and Poems, 1993
2780 13 “[unintelligible] Review Prelim List for Anthology”; Master list of stories, undated
2780 14 “Rejection Slips”; Rejection letters, 1981-2001
2780 15 “Rejection Slips”; Rejection letters, 1980-1998
2780 16 “Rejection Slips/Notes/Letters”; Rejection letters, correspondence and notes, 1984-2016
2780 17 “Editor Letters”; Correspondence, 1982-1996 (1 of 3)
2780 18 “Editor Letters”; Correspondence, 1982-1996 (2 of 3)
2780 19 “Editor Letters”; Correspondence, 1982-1996 (3 of 3)
2780 20 “Editor Letters”; Correspondence, 1988-1996
BOX 2781 (4 of 4)
Box Folder
2781 1 “Fire Season”; Correspondence, 1981-2007 (1 of 3)
2781 2 “Fire Season”; Correspondence, 1981-2007 (2 of 3)
2781 3 “Fire Season”; Correspondence, 1981-2007 (3 of 3)
2781 4 “Fire Season Book Awards/Reviews”; Book award entries, reviews and correspondence, 2012-2015
2781 5 “Fire Season/Houghton-Miff Fellow”; Fire Season annotated notes, correspondence, Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship application, 1981
2781 6 “Fire Season/Earliest Drafts”; Annotated manuscript drafts, no date
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