About the Author

Robert Bertholf is Curator of The Poetry/Rare Books Collection, University of Buffalor of New York. Albert Gelpi is William Robertson Coe Professor of American Literature, Emeritus, at Stanford University.

Reviews

"This collection represents the most important and complete interchange between two poets in the latter half of the century, and offers essential insight into the aesthetics of Black Mountain, open-field, Projectivist, and Objectivist poetry - but also elucidates the blend of mystical and personal which makes their work so entrancing ... I found this book one of the most exciting interchanges of ideas in letter that I have ever read. Albert Gelpi's introduction thoroughly extends appreciation for Levertov and Duncan's relationship, and provides illuminating insight into the causes of the rift between them. Such a massive collection demands good appendices, and the editors successfully provide contextual notes, a glossary, a chronology, and biographical information about the people mentioned in the letters." - Jeffery Beam, Oyster Boy Review "Duncan and Levertov's intellectual integrity makes reading this book an emotionallly bracing experience." - BOOKFORUM "The affectionate, chatty, honest, lengthy, detailed comments in the correspondence give an insight into two souls for whom words were life...This corresondence is invaluable to those interested in the language of poetry, indeed of all writing." - Choice "The correspondance, now presented to us in a monumental edition produced by Albert Gelpi and Robert J. Bertholf, with a judicious introduction by Gelpi and useful appendix, glossary of names, chronology and notes, is an indispensable addition to our understanding of American poetry in the post-war decades. Even readers who have reservations about the work of both poets will find these letters riveting." - Marjorie Perloff, Times Literary Supplement "The intimacy, loyalty, and lively intellectual exchange captured in this correspondence reveal the intense bond between Duncan and Levertov and depict the state of American poetry and cultural history in the mid-twentieth century." - American Literature