Alan Swallow (February 11, 1915 – November 27, 1966) was an American professor of English who created his own publishing
imprint
Imprint or imprinting may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series
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* ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film
...
Powell, Wyoming
Powell is a city in Park County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 6,314 at the 2010 census. Powell is an All-America City and home to Northwest College.
History
Powell was incorporated in 1909. Powell was named for John Wesley Powell ...
in 1915 to Edgar A. Swallow and Alta Helen (
Myers
Myers as a surname has several possible origins, e.g. Old French ("physician"), Old English ("mayor"), and Old Norse ("marsh").
People
*Abram F. Myers (born 1889), chair of the Federal Trade Commission and later general counsel and board chai ...
) Swallow, Swallow attended Powell Grade School and, during the summer before his senior year in
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, he worked as a tourist operator for
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
just outside of
Gardiner, Montana
Gardiner is a unincorporated community in Park County, Montana, United States, along the 45th parallel. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community and nearby areas was 833.
Gardiner was officially founded in 1880. The area has s ...
. it was during this time period that he learned about
Emanuel Haldeman-Julius
Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (''né'' Emanuel Julius) (July 30, 1889 – July 31, 1951) was a Jewish-American socialist writer, atheist thinker, social reformer and publisher. He is best remembered as the head of Haldeman-Julius Publications, the crea ...
and his
Little Blue Book
Little Blue Books are a series of small staple-bound books published from 1919 through 1978 by the Haldeman-Julius Publishing Company of Girard, Kansas. They were extremely popular, and achieved a total of 300-500 million booklets sold over the se ...
publications. This served as an inspiration for Swallow's later decision to found his own publishing company. His early love for poems also resulted in him releasing several of his pieces in the Powell student newspaper, the ''Powwow'', along with managing a column for several years.
Obtaining an honor scholarship for college thanks to placing first in his high school class, he went on to receive his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
from the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
in 1937. He then earned an additional fellowship scholarship to attend
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
where he completed a Master of Arts in 1939 and a Doctorate of English in 1941. His dissertation was on the subject of "Methods of Poetic Composition in Early English Renaissance, Skelton to Sidney". During his graduate years, his mentor in writing and poetry was
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the liter ...
, along with being mentored by
Cleanth Brooks
Cleanth Brooks ( ; October 16, 1906 – May 10, 1994) was an American literary critic and professor. He is best known for his contributions to New Criticism in the mid-20th century and for revolutionizing the teaching of poetry in American higher ...
.
Career
Near the end period of receiving his doctorate, Swallow began working as a part of the ''
New Mexico Quarterly
The University of New Mexico Press (UNMP) is a university press at the University of New Mexico. It was founded in 1929 and published pamphlets for the university in its early years before expanding into quarterlies and books. Its administrative ...
'' before directly attending the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
as an instructor until 1942. It was during this period that he began the Alan Swallow Press imprint and conducted publication activities on his own accord. After his two-year stint at the university, he moved to acting as an assistant professor for English classes at
Western State College
Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state.
Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...
from 1942 to 1943. From 1943 to 1945 he served as a
sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
during the end years of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Returning to academic life in 1946, Swallow began a new assistant professorship at the
University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
, becoming associate professor in 1948. The period of 1947 through 1953 saw him acting as director of the University of Denver Press, alongside setting up the university's creative writing doctoral program with
John Edward Williams
John Edward Williams (August 29, 1922 – March 3, 1994) was an American author, editor and professor. He was best known for his novels ''Butcher's Crossing'' (1960), '' Stoner'' (1965), and ''Augustus'' (1972), In late 1949, Swallow purchased Denver's '' The Author & Journalist'' magazine with three friends. Swallow co-edited with David Raffelock. Swallow's group controlled the magazine from the January 1950 through September 1951 issues. Swallow retired from his teaching efforts in 1954 to put his focus entirely on his expanded publishing businesses. In his later years, he was a member of the
Western Writers of America
Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...
and Denver Westerners. He was vice chairman of the Colorado branch of the
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
from 1961 to 1962 and chairman from 1963 to 1964.
Alan Swallow Press
First founded in March 1940, Alan Swallow Press originally focused on publishing
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
and
literary fiction
Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction or serious fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are ch ...
. The first simple publication, done on an old handpress and some purchased type fonts, was an anthology of pieces written by fellow students in Swallow's mentor group and titled ''Signets: An Anthology of Beginnings''. Some of the press's later and more well-known publications included several short novels by
Janet Lewis
Janet Loxley Lewis (August 17, 1899 – December 1, 1998) was an American novelist, poet, and librettist.
Biography
Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was a graduate of the University of Chicago, where she was a member of a literary circl ...
, several novels by
Anaïs Nin
Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell (February 11, 1903 – January 14, 1977; , ) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...
, and the final three books in
Vardis Fisher
Vardis Alvero Fisher (March 31, 1895 – July 9, 1968) was an American writer from Idaho who wrote popular historical novels of the Old West. After studying at the University of Utah and the University of Chicago, Fisher taught English at the Uni ...
's ''
Testament of Man
The Testament of Man (1943–1960), a twelve-volume series of novels by the American author Vardis Fisher, traces the physical, psychological and spiritual evolution of Western civilization from Australopithecus to the present. The series explores ...
'' series. Authors of poetry were also a major focus of the publisher, focusing on individuals that would otherwise not find publication. The imprint also published authors through the magazine Swallow had begun in his sophomore year of university called ''Sage'', and through it he introduced local Western authors to print, including works by Muriel Sibell Wolle. The final book that Swallow was involved in publishing was
Frank Waters
Frank Waters (July 25, 1902 – June 3, 1995) was an American writer. He is known for his novels and historical works about the American Southwest. The Frank Waters Foundation, founded in his name, strives to foster literary and artistic achie ...
' ''The Woman at Otowi Crossing'', a story about the life of
Edith Warner
Edith Warner (1893–1951), also known by the nickname "The Woman at Otowi Crossing", was an American tea room owner in Los Alamos, New Mexico, who is best known for serving various scientists and military officers working at the Los Alamos Natio ...
. After Swallow's death, his imprint began working with
Ohio University
Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
in 1979 and obtained a financial licensing agreement to enable Alan Swallow Press to reissue several of the aforementioned works. The
Ohio University Press
Ohio University Press (OUP), founded in 1947, is the oldest and largest scholarly press in the state of Ohio. It is a department of Ohio University that publishes under its own name and the imprint Swallow Press.
History
The press publishes ap ...
fully acquired the imprint in 2008, along with rights to use the Swallow name in future publications.
Awards and honors
As a part of the 25th anniversary of creating the Alan Swallow Press, Swallow was given a special program in 1965 honoring his work at the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
and hosted by the
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreac ...
.
Personal life
During his senior year in high school, his sister Vera brought over a friend named Mae Elder. This meeting would eventually lead to their marriage during his early university years on June 20, 1936. Swallow died on November 27, 1966, at the age of 51 due to a heart attack.
A biography of Swallow's life titled ''The Imprint of Alan Swallow'' was published in October 2010 by
Syracuse University Press
Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
History
SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley prom ...