Synopses & Reviews
The correspondence includes heated and lively debates over the work of poets such as Robert Graves, Louis Dudek, and Charles Olson; anecdotes from the personal lives of Creeley and Layton at crucial stages in both their careers; and glimpses of a time of change when the Black Mountain and other postmodernist movements were beginning. Admirers of Creeley and Layton will find this book of special interest, as will students of literature and scholars of modern poetry.
Review
"makes a highly significant contribution to the study of both Canadian and American poetry, and of contemporary culture as a whole ... We do not have near enough such scholarly texts." George Bowering, Department of English, Simon Fraser University. "This book is the work of conscientious and meticulous scholars whose objectivity is unquestioned, and whose respect for their subjects (Layton and Creeley) and for their materials, is evident throughout." Wynne Francis, Department of English, Concordia University.
Synopsis
The events covered by the letters collected here start with Robert Creeley's discovery of Irving Layton and focus on the turbulent circumstances surrounding the publication (by Creeley's Divers Press in Majorca) of In the Midst of My Fever, Layton's first book of poems not published at his own expense and the one that established him as a major poet. Irving Layton and Robert Creeley also recounts the cementing of avant-garde contacts between Canada and the United States through magazines such as Origin, Contact, and CIV/n.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-287) and index.