The first book to look at poets’ letters seriously as an art formFifteen enlightening chapters by leading international biographers, critics and poets examine letter writing among poets in the last two hundred years. They range from Coleridge, Wordsworth, Keats and Shelley in the nineteenth-century to Eliot, Yeats, Bishop and Larkin in the twentieth. In doing so, they respond to the following questions. Who are the great letter writers of the past? Why is reading other people’s mail so addictive? What is the relationship between letter writing and other literary genres such as poetry? Divided into three sections—Contexts and Issues, Romantic and Victorian Letter Writing, and Twentieth-Century Letter Writing—the volume demonstrates that real letters still have an allure that virtual post struggles to replicate. Key Features:A comprehensive collection of essays on the art and genre of letter writing among Romantic, Victorian and Twentieth Century poetsContributors are leading international biographers, critics and poets, including Hermione Lee, Paul Muldoon, Daniel Karlin, Hugh Haughton, Anne Fadiman, Edna Longley and Angela LeightonAn absorbing history of literary friendship, literary love, and literary rivalryA sensitive study of the often close relationship between letter writing and poetry
