Historical/Biographical Note:
Dennis Cooper was born on January 10, 1953 in Pasadena, California. His literary aspirations were explored early on and often took the form of imitations of Rimbaud, Verlaine, De Sade, and Baudelaire. He wrote poetry and stories in his early teens that explored scandalous and often extreme subjects. As a teenager, Cooper was an "outsider" and the leader of a group of poets, punks, stoners and writers. After high school he attended Pasadena City College and later Pitzer College where he encountered a poetry teacher who was to inspire him to pursue his writing outside of institutions of higher learning.
In 1976 Cooper went to England to become involved in the nascent punk scene transforming the visual/verbal aesthetic of punk into its written counterpart--see, for example, Closer. In the same year he began Little Caesar Magazine which included among other things an issue on and dedicated to Rimbaud. In 1978 with the success of the magazine, Cooper was able to found Little Caesar Press which featured the work of, among others, Brad Gooch, Amy Gerstler, Elaine Equi, Tim Dlugos, and Eileen Myles.
In 1979, Cooper became the director of programming at an alternative poetry space, Beyond Baroque, in Venice, California. During his tenure such artists as Tim Miller, Eric Bogosian and Jessica Hagedorn gave performances. He also curated shows that included works by Sheree Levin and Bob Flanagan, Peter Schjeldahl, Kenward Elmslie, Gerard Malanga, and Jack Skelley. In 1984, Cooper moved to New York City. In 1987 he met his Dutch boyfriend whom he soon followed back to Amsterdam. While exiled in Amsterdam he finished writing Closer which took as inspiration a postcard that featured an image of Mickey Mouse carved onto the back of a young boy. Cooper later won the Ferro-Grumley for gay literature for Closer.
While in Amsterdam he also wrote articles for different American magazines including the Village Voice. He soon returned to New York and began writing articles for Artforum and began working on his next novel, Frisk. In the next few years Cooper works on several different art and performance projects including co-curating an exhibit at LACE with Richard Hawkins entitled AGAINST NATURE: A Group Show of Work by Homosexual Men.
Presently, Cooper lives in Los Angeles. He has, after his final return to Los Angeles from New York, collaborated with a number of artists, including composer John Zorn, painter Lari Pittman, sculptors Jason Meadows and Nayland Blake, and others. In the Spring of 2000 he published the final novel, Period, of the series that began with Closer, followed by Frisk, Try, and Guide.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The Terror of Earrings. Arcadia, CA: Kinks Press, 1973.
Little Caesar. Ed. Dennis Cooper. Los Angeles: Little Caesar Press, 1976-1981.
Tiger Beat. Los Angeles: Little Caesar Press, 1978.
Antoine Monnier. Los Angeles: Anon Press, 1978.
Idols. New York: The Sea Horse Press, 1979.
Coming Attractions: An Anthology of American Poets in Their Twenties. Ed. Dennis Cooper with assistance by Tim Dlugos. Los Angeles: Little Caesar Press, 1980.
The Missing Men. Santa Barbara: Am Here Books/Immediate Editions, 1981.
The Tenderness of Wolves.Trumansburg, New York: Crossing Press, 1982.
My Mark. Los Angeles: Sherwood Press, 1982.
Safe. New York: Sea Horse Press, 1984.
Them. (play) Produced in New York, 1985.
He Cried. San Francisco: Black Star Series, 1985.
Against Nature: A Group Show of Work by Homosexual Men. Curators Dennis Cooper and Richard Hawkins. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 1988.
Closer. New York: Grove Press, 1989.
Idols. Revised Edition. New York: Amethyst Press, 1989.
Knife/Tape/Rope (play). produced in New York City, 1989.
The Undead (play). produced in Los Angeles at Mark Taper Forum, 1989.
Frisk. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991.
Lust.Intro. Dennis Cooper. Los Angeles: The Advocate Liberations Publications, 1991.
Discontents: New Queer Writers. Ed. Dennis Cooper. New York: Amethyst Press, 1992.
Wrong: Stories. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1992.
Jerk. San Francisco: Artspace Books, 1993.
Try. New York: Grove, 1994.
Dear Dennis, Love Lari. Collaboration with Lari Pittman and Jonathan Hammer. San Francisco: Hammer Editions, 1995.
The Dream Police: Selected Poems, 1969-1993. New York: Grove Press, 1995. Horror Hospital Unplugged. New York: Juno Books, 1997.
Guide. New York: Grove Press, 1997.
Weird Little Boy. Collaboration with John Zorn, Nayland Blake and Casey McKinney. Tokyo and New York: Avant Records, 1998.
Raymond Pettibon. Intro. Dennis Cooper. Switzerland: Kunsthalle Bern/D.A.P., 1998.
Period. New York: Grove Press, 2000.
Raymond Pettibon. Intro. Dennis Cooper. New York: Phaidon, 2001.
Thom Friedman. Essay. Dennis Cooper. London: Phaidon, 2001.
My Loose Thread. Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2002.
Return to topScope and Content Note
The archival portion of the Dennis Cooper Collection is the Dennis Cooper Papers. It is comprised of the correspondence and manuscripts of many notable literary and cultural figures, scrapbooks, manuscripts, collaborative projects, journals, journalism, reviews, business/production files for each book project, zines, posters, videocassettes, tapes, and materials from both Little Caesar Magazine and Little Caesar Press. The Cooper Papers contains an almost comprehensive collection of the early to present-day literary career of Dennis Cooper. Cooper's original organization of his papers was preserved as much as possible.
Original format for most materials.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
SERIES I: Book projects and related materials
subseries A contains 4 boxes of book project materials, including promotional materials, business records, manuscripts, reviews, scrapbooks, correspondence, and background materials.
subseries B contains 1 box of collaborative projects and works edited by Cooper. This subseries includes manuscripts, correspondence, business materials, photos, promotional materials, reviews, a CD and slides.
subseries C contains materials relating to Cooper's collaborative projects including a play written with Haasen and collaborations with Houston-Jones.
SERIES II: Book Projects and Correspondence of Writers and Artists
Contains the manuscripts, correspondence, reviews, promotional materials, interviews, slides, readings and announcements, clippings and newsletters of friends and colleagues of Cooper.
SERIES III: Journalism
Contains journalism written for magazines and newspapers including but by no means limited to Artforum , The Advocate , Art in America , Spin , and The Village Voice . Series 3 also contains journal articles that either remain unpublished or contain no information regarding the publications for which they were written.
SERIES IV: Biographical material
subseries A contains biographical materials including juvenilia, diaries, scrapbooks, a headshot, college materials, readings, reviews and correspondence from family members.
subseries B contains personal correspondence, including early rejection letters.
SERIES V: Beyond Baroque
Contains materials from Cooper's tenure at Beyond Baroque including correspondence, readings, reviews, writing workshop materials, press materials and photos.
SERIES VI: Little Caesar Magazine/ Little Caesar Press
subseries A contains materials relating to and of Little Caesar Magazine including correspondence, invoice and records, reviews, press materials, production materials, and mock-ups of several issues of the magazine.
subseries B contains all the materials relating to and of Little Caesar Press including manuscripts, mock-ups, cover art, posters, photos, and correspondence.
SERIES VII: Media Material. [Access copies may not be available for these materials yet. Check with the Fales archivist.]
subseries A contains all access copies for videotapes available to researchers.
subseries B contains all original video recordings given by Cooper including versions of "Knife/Tape/Rope" and Frisk. [Also see ACCRETION 2002]
subseries C contains all access copies for audio material available to researchers.
subseries D containts all original audio material given by Cooper.
SERIES VIII: Zines
Includes zines collected by Cooper.
SERIES IX: Posters
Contains posters of readings, announcements, and promotional advertisements. The Posters are located in the map case.
OVERSIZE:
There are 2 flat oversize boxes that contain oversize materials from series 6.
ACCRETION 2002:
The 2002 Accretion to The Dennis Cooper Papers focus on Period, the last installment of Cooper's George Miles cycle and My Loose Thread, his first full-length prose work outside said cycle in ten years. The accretion includes scrapbooks, manuscripts, notebooks, and videotapes relating to these works. In the case of Period there's a model house constructed of wood and filled with a hand-drawn representation of the novel's structure, a note to Ziggy, and images of haunted houses, George Miles, and various anonymous teenagers. Also included is a diaristic scrapbook on "Ideal Beauty."
The collection also makes available Cooper's Death and Sex File, which includes clippings from hundreds of magazines and newspapers spanning more than a decade.
There are a number of folders of Juvenalia from the 1960's and 1970's, including early poetry, journalism, prose, journals, correspondence, and Cooper's first novel written when he was an adolescent.
The correspondence in the 2002 Accretion includes photos of the reclusive author J.T. LeRoy and materials regarding Cooper's newest editorial project, the Little House on the Bowery series at Akashic Books.
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Related Material
at the Fales Library and Special Collections
Serpent's Tail/High Risk Archive
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Separated Material
Printed books in the collection have been removed and catalogued individually as part of the Downtown Collection.
Return to topRestrictions
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers. Written permission must be secured for researchers to consult the J.T. Leroy photographs. Appointments are necessary for the use of manuscript and archival materials.
Use Restrictions
Collection use is subject to all copyright laws. Permission to
publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Director of Fales Library and Special Collections. For further information,
contact:
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2596
Fax: (212) 995-3835
Email: fales.library@nyu.edu
URL: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/fales/cdfa.htm
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Administrative Information
Provenance
The Dennis Cooper Papers were purchased in June, 1997 from Cooper. Arrangements for the sale of the collection were negotiated through Ira Silverberg, literary agent for Cooper. Cooper initially organized the collection and packed the materials for shipment. The Library received a grant that allowed for the purchase of the collection.
Preferred Citation
Published citations
should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The Dennis
Cooper Papers; MSS 85; box number; folder number;
Fales Library and Special Collections