The Letters of Denise Levertov & William Carlos Williams - Hardcover

Levertov, Denise; MacGowan, Christopher; Williams, William Carlos

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811213927 ISBN 13: 9780811213929

Publisher: New Directions, 1998

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. 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.

About this title

About the Author:

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.

From Publishers Weekly:

Much of the warmth and literary force in this brief book is due to the remarkable poet Denise Levertov. So great was her energy and life force, even in her early 70s, that the writer's friends were shocked by her sudden death last year. Levertov and Williams began corresponding when Levertov was still in her 20s and Williams already a sixtyish veteran of the modernist scene, yet it was clear who was teaching whom: a woman of powerful certainties, Levertov soon had Williams altering lines in his published plays. In one 1960 letter, he writes after her visit, "Your criticism of my own shortcomings is noted. I'll pay attention to what you say." And he soon became a one-man cheering section for her accomplishments; after recommending her three times for Guggenheim Fellowships, he crowed when she finally won in 1962: "No one ever deserved a Gug more than you!" Their letters do not consist only of literary matters; the poets also discussed the basic enjoyment of life?as when Levertov advises the elder poet, "Did you ever see N.Y. from one of the really high buildings? It's worth doing." Also "worth doing" as a life-enhancing experience is reading this charming and affectionate correspondence.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: New Directions
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0811213927
• ISBN 13: 9780811213929
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 163