Elizabeth Hardwick (1915-2007) was a literary critic, a novelist, and one of the founders of The New York Review of Books. She is the author of Sleepless Nights and two other novels, a biography of Herman Melville, and four collections of essays, including Seduction and Betrayal, a study of women in literature.Robert Lowell (1917-1977) was the renowned and controversial author of many books of poetry, including Day by Day, For the Union Dead, and Life Studies.Saskia Hamilton is the author of three books of poetry, including Corridor, named one of the best poetry books of 2014 by the New Yorker and the New York Times Book Review. She is the editor of The Letters of Robert Lowell and coeditor of Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. She teaches at Barnard College.

Elizabeth Hardwick (1915-2007) was a literary critic, a novelist, and one of the founders of The New York Review of Books. She is the author of Sleepless Nights and two other novels, a biography of Herman Melville, and four collections of essays, including Seduction and Betrayal, a study of women in literature.Robert Lowell (1917-1977) was the renowned and controversial author of many books of poetry, including Day by Day, For the Union Dead, and Life Studies.Saskia Hamilton is the author of three books of poetry, including Corridor, named one of the best poetry books of 2014 by the New Yorker and the New York Times Book Review. She is the editor of The Letters of Robert Lowell and coeditor of Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. She teaches at Barnard College.