NELSON WRITING BOOK ABOUT ALAN SWALLOW: An odd coincidence arose out of last week’s litquiz (in Nov. 4 e-mail issue). I mentioned Alan Swallow, the renowned publisher and WYO native, as the publisher of one of Thomas McGrath’s first books. It happens that Laramie writer Dale Nelson is writing a book about Swallow. Here’s some more from Dale: “I actually inherited the book from Tom Auer (the late founder and publisher of The Bloomsbury Review). His estate was looking for a writer to write the book, utilizing Auer's research. I learned of their quest by a notice that you ran in wyolitmail. I was interested because I have on my shelf both Swallow's book of his own poems, ‘The Nameless Sight’ and books by several Pacific Northwest poets whom I knew when I was living and writing in Seattle. They were all published by Swallow -- Nelson Bentley, Vi Gale, Edith Shiffert, Joan Swift and Eve Triem. So, I have in my study five banker's boxes of the research that Tom Auer conducted, plus a couple of boxes loaded with books published by Swallow. My deadline in the book is in June, so it isn't likely to be published before next year. I agree that Swallow is a neglected figure. The book is under contract to Syracuse University Press, which published my first two books and has another one in the bin. They were especially interested because the Syracuse library has a lot of Swallow's papers, which Auer of course consulted. Thanks for your interest.” I look forward to Dale’s book. He is a WAC roster artist and you can bring him to your community through an Arts Across Wyoming grant.
