David Cope is a poet in the Objectivist tradition and the founder of Nada Press, a small press which publishes the literary magazine
Big Scream and other poetry. Cope, a University of Michigan graduate and lifelong Michigan resident, teaches literature and writing at Grand Rapids Community College and Western Michigan University. The collection documents Cope's writing, editing, and to some extent teaching and other spheres of Cope's life, through correspondence, manuscripts, notes, printed material, photographs, and videotapes.
David Cope made his first donation of papers to the Special Collections Library in 1987. Since then he has continued to make frequent contributions. The David Cope Papers cover Cope's writing and correspondence from the 1970s to the present, as well as his editing and teaching activities. In addition to offering insight into Cope's work, the collection details some of the activities and thoughts of friends and fellow writers and poets; in particular, Jim Cohn, Antler, and Jeff Poniewaz. Not currently well-documented are the more personal aspects of Cope's life--especially his family life--except for those details made available through his writings and correspondence.
The David Cope Papers are divided into nine series: the Correspondence and Name File, Writing and Editing, Teaching, Other Activities, Printed Material, Personal, Photographs, Audiovisual, and Oversize Material. Books and serial publications (periodicals) from Cope's library have been removed from the collection. They have been cataloged individually and are shelved by call number in the Special Collections Library. They can be located using Mirlyn, the University of Michigan's Library Catalog.