James Schevill
Encyclopedia
James Erwin Schevill was an American poet, critic, playwright and professor at San Francisco State University
and Brown University
, and the recipient of Guggenheim
and Ford Foundation
fellowships.
and Sherwood Anderson
. His plays include Lovecraft's Follies (1971) based on the life and work of Providence horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, The Ushers, Mother O, Shadows of Memory, The Last Romantics, Cathedral of Ice, The House on F Street and others. He received a literary award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters for his plays. He also wrote the libretto for James Rosen
's opera, Emperor Norton.
He was visiting Freiburg, Germany in 1938 when the Kristallnacht
riots occurred, and the experience led him into writing and poetry. Other seminal experiences came from his own family background, travel, and during his Army service. He was influenced by his father, Rudolph Schevill, who created and chaired the department of romance languages at UC Berkeley, and created the West Coast committee in defense of the Spanish republic at the request of his friends Pablo Casals
and Fernando de los Rios. His mother Margaret Schevill, was an artist, a scholar of Navaho culture and mythology, and a follower of Carl Jung
. As a German speaker, he worked for military intelligence and was assigned to a prisoner of war camp where, despite the denazification program, he saw that Nazis dominated other prisoners, as he described in his novel Cathedral of Ants (1976).
In a 1950 letter to Robert Sproul
, the president of the University of California
, he refused to sign a loyalty oath
, at the time a prerequisite to becoming an instructor at the UC Berkeley
. Instead he went on to teach at California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco State University, where he headed the Poetry Center, and at Brown University until his retirement.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
In 1981 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship
in Drama and Performance Art. His contributions to the theater began with his strong involvement in the Actors Workshop in San Francisco, and his founding of Wastepaper Theater at Brown University as well as his collaborations with Trinity Reporatory Theater in Providence. He suffered a severe stroke in 1999 which made him a wheelchair user. He died in Berkeley, California
in January 2009.
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
and Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, and the recipient of Guggenheim
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
and Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
fellowships.
Summary
He wrote more than 10 volumes of poetry, 30 plays, many essays, a novel, and biographies of Bern PorterBern Porter
Bernard Harden "Bern" Porter was an American artist, writer, publisher, performer, and scientist.In 2010 his work was recognized by an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.- Biography :...
and Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer. His most enduring work is the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. Writers he has influenced include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Amos Oz.-Early life:Anderson was born in Clyde, Ohio,...
. His plays include Lovecraft's Follies (1971) based on the life and work of Providence horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, The Ushers, Mother O, Shadows of Memory, The Last Romantics, Cathedral of Ice, The House on F Street and others. He received a literary award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters for his plays. He also wrote the libretto for James Rosen
James Rosen
James Rosen was a United States federal judge.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Rosen received an LL.B. from Newark Law School in 1930. He was in private practice in Union City, New Jersey from 1931 to 1959...
's opera, Emperor Norton.
He was visiting Freiburg, Germany in 1938 when the Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
riots occurred, and the experience led him into writing and poetry. Other seminal experiences came from his own family background, travel, and during his Army service. He was influenced by his father, Rudolph Schevill, who created and chaired the department of romance languages at UC Berkeley, and created the West Coast committee in defense of the Spanish republic at the request of his friends Pablo Casals
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
and Fernando de los Rios. His mother Margaret Schevill, was an artist, a scholar of Navaho culture and mythology, and a follower of Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
. As a German speaker, he worked for military intelligence and was assigned to a prisoner of war camp where, despite the denazification program, he saw that Nazis dominated other prisoners, as he described in his novel Cathedral of Ants (1976).
In a 1950 letter to Robert Sproul
Robert Gordon Sproul
Robert Gordon Sproul was eleventh President of the University of California serving from 1930 to 1958....
, the president of the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, he refused to sign a loyalty oath
Loyalty oath
A loyalty oath is an oath of loyalty to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member.In this context, a loyalty oath is distinct from pledge or oath of allegiance...
, at the time a prerequisite to becoming an instructor at the UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Instead he went on to teach at California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco State University, where he headed the Poetry Center, and at Brown University until his retirement.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
In 1981 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in Drama and Performance Art. His contributions to the theater began with his strong involvement in the Actors Workshop in San Francisco, and his founding of Wastepaper Theater at Brown University as well as his collaborations with Trinity Reporatory Theater in Providence. He suffered a severe stroke in 1999 which made him a wheelchair user. He died in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
in January 2009.