Donald J. and Ellen Greiner collection of James Dickey

James Dickey won the 1966 National Book Award for poetry and held the office of Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1966-1968. Dickey read his poem, "The Strength of Fields," at the Carter inaugural in 1976. He is perhaps best known for the novel Deliverance. Dickey, a native of Georgia, lived and taught at the University of South Carolina for over 30 years before his death in 1997. While at the university, he developed a strong friendship with the literary scholar, associate provost, and dean of undergraduate studies Donald J. Greiner. Greiner is the author of James Dickey: Classes on Modern Poets and the Art of Poetry, the research and working drafts of which comprise a major portion of this collection. Greiner is also the author of more than a dozen books on other writers and is a preeminent scholar of John Updike, about whom he published three books. Dr. Greiner has won both the University Award for Outstanding Teaching and the University Award for Distinguished Research at the University of South Carolina and lives in Columbia, SC.

This collection is primarily comprised of printed ephemera about James Dickey's life and published works. It also includes Greiner's works on Dickey and attendant materials reflecting Dickey's presence at the University of South Carolina. Many of the items in this collection have been signed or inscribed by Dickey. A separate collection of books, many of them inscribed copies to the Greiners, is housed in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections and catalogued individually.

Series 4 and 5a, the bulk of the collection, contain clippings, entire magazine and journal issues, some photocopies, and other printed ephemera. Many are signed. The arrangement for both is chronological.