2023 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Robert Frost Letters Project
| Project/Area Number |
23K00388
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| Research Institution | Doshisha University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-04-01 – 2028-03-31
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| Keywords | Robert Frost / American poetry / letters / American literature |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
I am editing a five volume edition of the letters of the American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963). I am now working on volume four. On March 5, 2023, I traveled to Meadville, Pennsylvania, and stayed there until March 15. Two of my co-editors live in Meadville/Edinboro, PA. The three of us worked together transcribing, voice-verifying (in pairs), and annotating letters Frost wrote between 1937 and 1946, the date range for volume four. In August 2023, I traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and spent ten days working in the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. The archives there hold a number of Frost’s literary manuscripts, letters, photographs, and related documents.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
In October 2023 I suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for one month. Since then I've been undergoing rehabilitation. During the spring term of 2024 I have been on medical leave, owing to my heart condition; while on medical leave, I cannot draw on kaken-hi funds for travel abroad. So, I will employ those funds in fall and winter 2024. Nevertheless, I have been able to work on the Frost project from home, and I have made a good deal of progress. I have now completed annotation of the first 216 letters of volume four of what will become The Letters of Robert Frost, Volume 4: 1937-1946. I have also written a rough draft of the introduction to the volume and of the Statement of Editorial Principles. I will continue this work through the 2024 spring term, while I am on medical leave.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
During the fall term of the 2024 AY, I will, working with my co-editors, complete annotation of volume four of The Letters of Robert Frost, and complete also, if time allows, the front-matter and back-matter for the book. At that point, I will be able to deliver the manuscript of the volume to Harvard University Press. I will also travel, using kaken-hi funds, to the US during November and December, in order to work with my co-editors. By that point, I should have completed the typescript for the book. It will then go into production, for publication either in 2025 or early 2026.
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| Causes of Carryover |
In October 2023, I suffered a heart attack, was hospitalized for a month and have been undergoing rehabilitation since. I will continue rehabilitation for the rest of 2024. Nevertheless, I am continuing work, at home, on the Frost Letters Project. And I am making good progress towards the completion of volume four.
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