Dear editor : a history of Poetry in letters : the first fifty years, 1912-1962

"Amy Newman is one of the most gifted and original poets writing in America today."—Martha Collins Each prose poem in this extraordinary volume is an impassioned letter to a nameless editor from a poet seeking publication for her collection about chess, sainthood, and the poet's lonely childhood. Taken individually, the poems display a dazzling originality; together, they form an exquisite exploration of memory and longing. "Poignant, hilarious, and brutally frank, Dear Editor reveals the personalities and untold stories behind the creation of modern poetry.". "Founded in 1912, Poetry became famous immediately by printing revolutionary poems by Ezra Pound, Carl Sandburg, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and many other then-unknown but now-classic authors. Over nine decades, Poetry has presented virtually every significant poet of the twentieth century - often for the first time - becoming a legend and, as Eliot said, "an American Institution."". "Dear Editor gathers over 600 surprisingly candid letters to and from the editors of Poetry to reveal the behind-the-scenes stories in the development of American poetry: Ezra Pound's opinion of T. S. Eliot ("It is such a comfort to meet a man and not have to tell him to wash his face, wipe his feet") and Robert Frost ("dull as ditch water ... [but] set to be 'literchure' someday"); Edna St. Vincent Millay's pleas for an advance ("I am become very, very thin, and have taken to smoking Virginia tobacco"); Wallace Stevens on himself ("I have a pretty well-developed mean streak")." "Over sixty illustrations - author photographs, reproductions of original letters, and cartoons - further enliven this unusually rich cultural history."--BOOK JACKET.

Poignant, hilarious, and brutally frank, Dear Editor reveals the personalities and untold stories behind the creation of modern poetry.

"The history of poetry and Poetry in America are almost interchangeable, certainly inseparable," A. R. Ammons wrote. Dear Editor, in gathering over 600 surprisingly candid letters to and from the editors of Poetry, traces the development of poetry in America: Ezra Pound's opinion of T. S. Eliot ("It is such a comfort to meet a man and not have to tell him to wash his face, wipe his feet") and of Robert Frost ("dull as ditch water...[but] set to be 'literchure' someday"); Edna St. Vincent Millay's pleas for an advance ("I am become very, very thin, and have taken to smoking Virginia tobacco"); Wallace Stevens on himself ("I have a pretty well-developed mean streak"). Here are the inside stories, the rivalries between aspiring authors, the inspirations behind classics, the practicalities (and politicking) of publishing. In fascinating anecdotes and literary gossip, scores of poets offer insights into the creative process and their reactions to historic events.

Beginning again The view from Cass Street The view from Church Walk The editor and the impresario at odds Recognition and romance American modernism : William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, and others Amy Lowell, Ezra Pound, and "Amygisme" Poetry on the ascendant, Pound in decline Departures, 1916-1919 World War I and the aftermath Another new generation, 1918-1922 The twenties The depression years, 1930-1936 Passing the torch, 1936-1941 World War II Period of adjustments, 1944-1949 Karl Shapiro : 1950-1955 Henry Rago : the early years, 1955-1962. In 1911, when she had the improbable idea of founding, in industrial Chicago, a magazine devoted exclusively to verse, Harriet Monroe was a failed playwright, obscure poet, struggling freelance writer, and almost fifty-one years old. Collects more than six hundred letters to and from the editors of "Poetry" that were written about and by such figures as Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Wallace Stevens.