This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located onsite.
Series I is open for research. Series II is closed pending digitization.
Recordings of interviews/radio broadcasts with notable persons (some are interviews by Charles Ruas), while others appear to be discussions about people or recordings of performances. 95 large reel-to-reel tape boxes; 34 small reel-to-reel tape boxes; 16 audiocassette tapes. Also includes 8 folders of papers relating to Ruas's 1984 book "Conversations with American Writers."
Series I: Papers related to "Conversations with American Writers" (1984), circa 1984
Eight folders of papers relating to Ruas's 1984 book "Conversations with American Writers." Primarily corrected typescripts, also interview releases and a small amount of correspondence.
Series II: Audio recordings, 1970s-1980s
Recordings of interviews/radio broadcasts with notable literary persons (some are interviews by Charles Ruas), while others appear to be discussions about people or recordings of performances. 95 large reel-to-reel tape boxes; 33 small reel-to-reel tape boxes; 16 audiocassette tapes (box 8, items 33-48). The open-reel tapes are primarily WBAI-related material. The cassette tapes contain literary interviews conducted for outlets such as the Soho Weekly News, The New York Times, and The Paris Review.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located onsite.
Series I is open for research. Series II is closed pending digitization.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Charles Ruas audio recordings and papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Charles Ruas papers (https://findingaids.princeton.edu/catalog/C1372_c225), Princeton University. Digitized audio recordings https://clocktower.org/series/historic-audio-from-the-archives-of-charles-ruas at Clocktower Radio.
Purchased from Glenn Horowitz, 2001.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Collection rehoused, December 2023.
2024-05-15 Series II list added. kws
Born in Tianjin, China, Charles Ruas is a graduate of Princeton University (BA 1960, MA 1963, PhD 1970) and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Sorbonne (1963-64). He is a specialist in French, English, and Comparative Literature, which he has taught at universities in the United States, France, and China.
Ruas was for a time in the late 1970s Director of the Drama and Literature Department of WBAI, where he initiated separate coverage of all the arts. Within this programming Susan Howe produced her own series and specials on poetry. Other programming initiated by Ruas at WBAI included the Audio-Experimental Theatre, for which multi-media performers, including poets, playwrights, video artists, and dancers were invited to create a work for radio broadcast. Performers included Meredith Monk, Vito Acconci, John Cage, Philip Glass, Joan Jonas, Yvonne Rainer, Ed Bowes, Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman, and Helen Adam.
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