His early love for poems also resulted in him releasing several of his pieces in the Powell student newspaper, the Powwow, along with managing a column for several years.

[2] Obtaining an honor scholarship for college thanks to placing first in his high school class, he went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wyoming in 1937.

He then earned an additional fellowship scholarship to attend Louisiana State University where he completed a Master of Arts in 1939 and a Doctorate of English in 1941.

[2] After his two-year stint at the university, he moved to acting as an assistant professor for English classes at Western State College from 1942 to 1943.

[6] First founded in March 1940, Alan Swallow Press originally focused on publishing poetry and literary fiction.

[5][13] The final book that Swallow was involved in publishing was Frank Waters' The Woman at Otowi Crossing, a story about the life of Edith Warner.

The Ohio University Press fully acquired the imprint in 2008, along with rights to use the Swallow name in future publications.