The Letters of Denise Levertov and William Carlos Williams

Denise Levertov; William Carlos Williams

ISBN 10: 0811213927 / ISBN 13: 9780811213929

Edité par New Directions Publishing Corporation, New York, 1998

A propos de cet article

Edited by Christopher MacGowan.

N° de réf. du vendeur 013665

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Letters of Denise Levertov and William Carlos Williams
• Éditeur: New Directions Publishing Corporation, New York
• Date de parution: 1998
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0811213927
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780811213929
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: First Printing
• État de l'article: Fine
• État de la jaquette: Fine

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

The Letters of Denise Levertov and William Carlos Williams is the most engaging and lively of literary correspondences - at once a portrait of two geniuses the testimony of their remarkable friendship, and a seedbed of ideas about American poetry. With a 1951 fan letter, the young British poet introduced herself to Williams, and by 1959, Williams is congratulating Levertov on her growth: "this book challenge[s] me so that I am glad I am not younger.... You have not always written so excellently.... I am going to read these first half-dozen poems - maybe more - until as an old man I have penetrated to where your secret is hid." The letters also chronicle their search (individually and together) for a set of formal poetic principles, a search which culminated for Levertov in 1965, when she coined the term "organic form." The warmth, the directness, the flavorsome individuality of the letters - 34 from Levertov and 42 from Williams - increased with their growing intimacy and mutual regard. Always intriguing, their independent-minded letters, which end with the elder poet's death in 1962, have great piquancy and charm. Denise Levertov herself initiated this project, and was then, in the year before her death, "fascinated to read the exchange." This edition also includes the correspondence between Levertov and Williams's widow Florence. Professor Christopher MacGowan, the noted Williams scholar, contributes a superb introduction and informative annotations throughout.

À propos des auteurs

Denise Levertov (1923-1997) was a British born American poet. She wrote and published 20 books of poetry, criticism, translations. She also edited several anthologies. Among her many awards and honors, she received the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Lannan Award, a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Besides being a practicing physician, William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was a poet, short-story writer, novelist, translator, playwright, and essayist whose contribution to the development of modern American poetry grew out of his commitment to recording the "local" experience of Rutherford, New Jersey, and its environs.