Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Amon Liner Papers #4165, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Ruby S. Liner of Charlotte, North Carolina, in March 1979 (Acc. 79027), June 1979 (Acc. 82064), and October 1989 (Acc. 89119).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: L. Eileen Parris, December 1992; Roslyn Holdzkom, November 1989

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Processed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1990-1992.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• American literature--Study and teaching (Higher)--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• American poetry--North Carolina--20th century.
• College teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Liner, Amon.
• Long, Virginia Love.
• Poets, American--North Carolina--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Faculty--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro--Faculty--History--20th century.

• Virginia Long Rudder Papers (#4164).

Amon George Liner, Jr., was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1940. Although a congenital heart defect severely limited his physical activities, Liner was active in the intellectual sphere, enjoying moderate popularity among young North Carolina poets in the 1970s.

Except for his undergraduate years at Kenyon College in Ohio (B.A. English, 1963), Liner lived his whole life in central North Carolina. He attended Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C., from 1958 through the fall of 1960, finishing his undergraduate education at Kenyon College, 1961-1963, with a Bachelor's degree in English. His graduate education included an M.A. in Dramatic Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1965 and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1976. While Liner supported himself by working as a cataloger at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill library from 1968 to 1974, he kept active in the North Carolina literary scene by serving as poetry editor for the Red Clay Reader and writing book reviews for the Charlotte Observer.

Liner was a prolific writer of verse, and his poetry appeared in many literary journals. His first major work was Marstower (Red Clay Press, 1972). His second book, Chrome Glass (Carolina Wren Press, 1976), was in publication at the time of his sudden death in July 1976. Rose, A Color of Darkness (Carolina Wren Press, 1980) and the two-volume The Far Journey and Final End of Dr. Faustwitz, Spaceman (Carolina Wren Press, 1983, 1988) appeared posthumously. Chrome Glass and Dr. Faustwitz are written in "four-ply form," a verse form of Liner's own creation wherein "each ply carries part or an aspect of the total theme [of the poem]. Facing pages (each four plies), or columns are meant to be seen as whole single pages." (Judy Hogan in her introductory remarks to Dr. Faustwitz).

The collection is divided into three series: writings, college and graduate school materials, and correspondence and other papers. The writings series includes collected and loose poetry and poetry notebooks; plays; and short stories and fiction notebooks. The college materials include class notes, exams, and term papers and projects from Liner's studies at Catawba College, Kenyon College, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Correspondence and other papers consists primarily of letters to Liner from friend and fellow poet Virginia Long Rudder; issues of underground literary magazines; and clippings of interest to Liner or about his work.