Doug Lang papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-2019-020

Staff Only

Dates

Creation: 1948-2023
Creation: Majority of material found within 1972 - 2010

Scope and Contents

Papers documenting the life and career of Washington, DC-based Welsh poet Doug Lang through correspondence, creative writing notebooks, handmade artwork, ephemera such as fliers and posters, manuscripts and typescripts including annotated drafts, and photographs. Lang's friends and peers Susan Campbell, Lee Haner, Sandra Rottmann, and others created the art, which includes collages, computer graphics, illustrations, and photography. The materials highlight the poetry and art scenes of Washington, DC in the late twentieth-century.

In addition to Lang's extensive collection of written works, there is substantial material related to the poetry readings at Folio Books in Washington, DC, and to Lang's leadership with United Artists and ACE Exhibits. The teaching materials series documents Lang's work as a writing teacher and is predominantly comprised of notebooks Lang kept during his time at the Corcoran School of Art and Bard College. Personal papers include articles about Doug Lang and his family, autobiographical journals and notes, and photographs. Notable peers whose papers and correspondence are featured in the collection include Ray DiPalma, Frank DiPerna, Tim Dlugos, Ted Greenwald, Michael Lally, Phyllis Rosenzweig, and Terence Winch.

Creator

Lang, Doug, 1941-2022 (Person)

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research.

Box 3, Folder 3 is closed until 2034 due to privacy concerns. Box 10, Folder 1 is closed pending conservation review.

Audiovisual materials are not available for playback due to format impermanence and have not been reformatted. Please let Burns Library Public Services know of your specific interest; if possible, reformatting will be scheduled.

Negatives in Shared box 1274 are not an access medium and are not available for use; print photographs in Box 2 are available for access.

Conditions Governing Use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Biographical note: Doug Lang

Doug Lang was born as William Douglas Allen in Swansea, Wales on April 11, 1941 to parents William I. and Anne (Lang) Allen. Lang and his sister Synde (alternatively known as Sindy and Daphne) adopted their mother's maiden name when their father left early in their childhood. Before moving to the United States, Lang attended Coleg Harlech, a college in Wales, and married fellow poet Andrea Wyatt in London in 1972.

Lang settled in Washington, DC in 1973 and ran an influential poetry reading series at Folio Books in Dupont Circle from January 1976 to June 1978. This series stemmed from the Mass Transit poetry movement, which met at the Community Book Shop in Washington, DC in the early 1970s. Notable poets who participated in the readings included Tina Darragh, Peter Inman, Michael Lally, Diane Ward, and Terence Winch. In 1983, Lang helped found ACE Exhibits (Active Culture Exhibits, formerly known as United Artists), a production company made up of sixteen artists to promote the expansion of art and art exhibits in Washington, DC. Also in the late 1980s, Lang taught summer writing workshops at Bard College.

In 1976, Doug Lang joined the Corcoran School of Art (renamed the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design in 1999) at George Washington University as a writing teacher. During his 37 year career there, Lang served as a Faculty Association President, department chair, and Interim Dean. Lang's published poetry works include Freaks (1973), 3 Novels (1988), Horror Vacui (1991), imbecile periplum (2007), dérangé (2013), and In the Works (published posthumously in 2023). He also published a novel, The Sex Clinic (1973), under the name J.J. Lyly, and contributed to poetry magazines Dog City and EEL (Everybody's Ex-Lover). Doug Lang died on November 22, 2022 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Sources:

Forgey, Benjamin, "The ACE Of Arts", The Washington Post, March 30, 1984. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/03/31/the-ace-of-arts/c1930e8c-1c89-4aea-ab19-a08022f7f0fc/

Vickery, Ann, Leaving Lines of Gender: A Feminist Genealogy of Language Writing, Wesleyan University Press, 2000.

Winch, Terence, "REMEMBERING DOUG", Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, November 29, 2022. https://corcoran.gwu.edu/remembering-doug-lang

Extent

18.75 Linear Feet (20 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers document the life and career of Washington, DC-based Welsh poet Doug Lang through correspondence, creative writing notebooks, handmade artwork, ephemera such as fliers and posters, manuscripts and typescripts including annotated drafts, and photographs. Materials highlight the poetry and art scenes of Washington, DC in the late twentieth-century.

Arrangement

Arranged in seven series: I. Art and art organizations; II. Correspondence; III. Music; IV. Peers' papers; V. Personal papers; VI. Teaching career; and VII. Writings and related materials. Each series is arranged alphabetically.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Doug Lang via Brian Cassidy, Bookseller, 2019.

Purchased from Brian Cassidy, Type Punch Matrix, 2023.

Gift of Phyllis D. Rosenzweig, 2024.

Related Materials

Terence Winch papers, MS.2017.005, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Primary Writing small press records and Phyllis Rosenzweig personal correspondence collection, 1973-2019, MS2393, Special Collections Research Center, Gelman Library, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Related published works can be found under the location collection name "Mass Transit poets collection" in the Boston College Libraries catalog.

Separated Materials

Published works associated with this collection have been transferred within the Burns Library and can be found in the Boston College Library catalog.

Processing Information

Materials that were sent to Phyllis Rosenzweig after Doug Lang's death have been kept in their original order, with file titles indicating the name of the person who collected and forwarded the materials.

Materials in Box 11 have been treated by a conservator but should remain isolated.