About the Book
Robert Creeley is one of the most celebrated and influential American poets. A stylist of the highest order, Creeley imbued his correspondence with the literary artistry he brought to his poetry. Through his engagements with mentors such as William Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound, peers such as Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac, and mentees such as Charles Bernstein, Anselm Berrigan, Ed Dorn, Susan Howe, and Tom Raworth, Creeley helped forge a new poetry that re-imagined writing for his and subsequent generations. This first-ever volume of his letters, written between 1945 and 2005, document the life, work, and times of one of our greatest writers, and represent a critical archive of the development of contemporary American poetry, as well as the changing nature of letter-writing and communication in the digital era.
About the Author
Robert Creeley (1926—2005) published more than sixty books of poetry, prose, essays, and interviews in the United States and abroad. His many honors included the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award, the Frost Medal, the Shelley Memorial Award, and the Bollingen Prize for Poetry. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Distinguished Professor in the Graduate Program in Literary Arts at Brown University.
Rod Smith is the author of several collections of poetry, including Deed (2007), editor of the journal Aerial, publisher of Edge Books, and manager of Bridge Street Books in Washington, D.C.
Peter Baker is Professor of English and Cultural Studies at Towson University in Maryland. He is the author or editor of six previous volumes, including Detecting Detection: International Perspectives on the Uses of a Plot (2012).
Kaplan Harris is Associate Professor of English at St. Bonaventure University. He has published widely on twentieth-century poetry, including recent articles on Susan Howe, Ted Berrigan, Hannah Weiner, and Kevin Killian.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Editors’ Introduction
Part 1. The Charm, 1945–1952: Burma, New Hampshire, Aix-en-Provence
Letter to Genevieve and Helen Creeley 1/20/45
Letter to Genevieve and Helen Creeley 4/13/45
Letter to Genevieve and Helen Creeley 5/10/45
Letter to Genevieve Creeley 5/15/45
Letter to Bob Leed 6/21/48
Letter to Bob Leed [ca. August 1948]
Letter to William Carlos Williams 2/11/50
Letter to William Carlos Williams 2/27/50
Letter to Larry Eigner [ca. February 1950]
Letter to Ezra Pound 4/14/50
Letter to William Carlos Williams 4/15/50
Letter to Cid Corman [4/23/50]
Letter to William Carlos Williams 4/24/50
Letter to Charles Olson 4/24/50
Letter to Charles Olson 4/28/50
Letter to Charles Olson 6/5/50
Letter to Dorothy Pound 6/15/50
Letter to Charles Olson 6/21/50
Letter to Charles Olson [10/18/50]
Letter to Charles Olson [11/9/50]
Letter to Paul Blackburn [11/29/50]
Letter to Charles Olson [12/7/50]
Letter to Mitch Goodman [1951]
Letter to Denise Levertov and Mitch Goodman 4/18/51
Letter to Denise Levertov 4/22/51
Letter to Paul Blackburn 5/23/51
Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/29/51
Letter to William Carlos Williams 8/1/51
Letter to William Carlos Williams 9/27/51
Letter to Denise Levertov 10/3/51
Letter to Mitch Goodman 10/3/51
Letter to Horace Schwartz [late 1951]
Letter to Larry Eigner [undated, 1951]
Letter to René Laubiès [5/25/52]
Letter to Paul Blackburn 6/22/52
Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/27/52
Letter to Charles Olson 7/15/52
Letter to Robert Duncan 7/19/52
Part 2. Black Mountain Review, 1953–1956: Majorca, Black Mountain, San Francisco
Letter to Paul Blackburn 1/9/53
Letter to Charles Olson 4/8/53
Letter to Charles Olson 7/19/53
Letter to Paul Blackburn 9/17/53
Letter to Jonathan Williams 9/23/53
Letter to Paul Blackburn 10/15/53
Letter to Denise Levertov 2/3/54
Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/6/54
Letter to Kenneth Rexroth 8/14/54
Letter to Kenneth Rexroth 8/19/54
Letter to William Carlos Williams 8/21/54
Letter to Louis Zukofsky 11/10/54
Letter to William Carlos Williams 11/25/54
Letter to William Carlos Williams 12/6/54
Letter to Cid Corman 12/24/54
Letter to William Carlos Williams 1/26/55
Letter to Alexander Trocchi 4/23/55
Letter to Jack Spicer 9/5/55
Letter to Robert Duncan 9/6/55
Letter to Robert Duncan 9/24/55
Letter to William Carlos Williams 10/31/55
Letter to Charles Olson 5/17/56
Letter to Jack Kerouac 5/26/56
Letter to Charles Olson 5/28/56
Part 3. For Love, 1956–1963: New Mexico, Guatemala, Vancouver
Letter to Mitch Goodman 7/18/56
Letter to William Carlos Williams 8/8/56
Letter to Allen Ginsberg [9/19/56]
Letter to Jack Kerouac 10/11/56
Letter to Mitch Goodman 11/4/56
Letter to William Carlos Williams 1/1/57
Letter to Denise Levertov 1/23/57
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 2/6/57
Letter to Ed Dorn 4/27/57
Postcard to Donald M. Allen [undated, ca. 1958]
Letter to Jack Kerouac 1/31/58
Letter to Paul Blackburn 3/8/58
Letter to Denise Levertov 4/22/58
Letter to Denise Levertov and Mitch Goodman 8/13/58
Letter to Ed Dorn 11/16/58
Letter to Robert Duncan 8/20/59
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 9/7/59
Letter to Jack Kerouac 9/28/59
Letter to Robert Duncan [undated, ca. October 1959]
Letter to Jack Kerouac 10/20/59
Letter to Genevieve Creeley 10/26/59
Letter to Ed Dorn 10/26/59
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 10/31/59
Letter to LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) 11/8/59
Letter to Jerome Rothenberg 12/16/59
Letter to William Carlos Williams 12/24/59
Letter to Charles Olson 12/24/59
Letter to Jonathan Williams 1/5/60
Letter to Ed Dorn 1/9/60
Letter to William Carlos Williams 1/10/60
Letter to Donald M. Allen 1/16/60
Letter to William Carlos Williams 3/16/60
Letter to Louis Zukofsky 3/30/60
Letter to Paul Blackburn 4/24/60
Letter to Ed Dorn 9/14/60
Letter to William Carlos Williams 9/21/60
Letter to Jerome Rothenberg 11/6/60
Letter to Ed Dorn 11/20/60
Letter to William Carlos Williams 12/18/60
Letter to Jerome Rothenberg 12/18/60
Letter to Hugh Kenner 12/18/60
Letter to Paul Blackburn 1/11/61
Letter to Ed Dorn 1/19/61
Letter to Tom Raworth 1/23/61
Letter to Charles Olson 1/29/61
Letter to Louis Zukofsky 3/17/61
Letter to Ed Dorn 3/26/61
Letter to Louis Zukofsky 6/26/61
Letter to Ed and Helene Dorn 10/9/61
Letter to Jack Kerouac 1/19/62
Letter to Charles Olson 4/6/62
Letter to Jack Kerouac 5/30/62
Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/4/62
Letter to Warren Tallman 6/12/62
Letter to Rosmarie Waldrop 8/17/62
Postcard to Jack Kerouac 11/25/62
Part 4. Pieces, 1963–1973: New Mexico, Buffalo, Bolinas
Postcard to Warren Tallman 5/7/63
Letter to Paul Blackburn 8/30/63
Letter to Ed Dorn 9/13/63
Letter to Denise Levertov 10/19/63
Letter to LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) 10/21/63
Letter to Clark Coolidge 10/26/63
Letter to Alexander Trocchi 11/1/63
Letter to Andrew Crozier 11/15/63
Letter to Denise Levertov 11/16/63
Letter to Tom Raworth 2/7/64
Letter to Stan Brakhage 3/28/64
Telegram to Charles Olson 3/31/64
Letter to Charles Olson 4/1/64
Letter to Alexander Trocchi 7/16/64
Letter to Ed Dorn 7/26/64
Letter to Louis Zukofsky 12/29/64
Letter to Ed Dorn 6/2/65
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 6/2/65
Letter to Tom and Valerie Raworth 6/23/65
Letter to Charles Olson 10/16/65
Letter to Stephen Rodefer 1/11/66
Letter to Charles Olson 1/26/66
Letter to Robert Duncan 4/8/66
Letter to Bela Zempleny, U.S. Department of State 4/8/66
Letter to Charles Olson 5/3/66
Postcard to Robert Duncan 5/6/66
Postcard to Allen Ginsberg 9/10/66
Letter to Charles Olson 9/24/66
Letter to Robert Duncan 3/6/67
Letter to George Oppen 3/19/67
Letter to Robert Duncan 10/26/67
Letter To whom it may concern 11/30/67
Letter to Paul Blackburn 1/15/68
Letter to Louis Zukofsky 9/7/68
Letter to the Albuquerque Journal 9/16/68
Letter to Robert Duncan 02/12/69
Postcard to Gregory Corso 10/21/69
Letter to Charles Olson 1/1/70
Telegram to Hon. Byron McMillan 2/23/70
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 6/20/70
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 9/3/70
Postcard to Sarah Creeley [9/4/70]
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) [ca. 1970]
Letter to Genevieve Creeley 8/29/71
Postcard to Armand Schwerner 10/10/71
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 11/9/72
Part 5. Echoes, 1973–1989: Buffalo, Maine, Helsinki
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 1/17/73
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 1/28/73
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 1/29/73
Letter to Kate Creeley 4/26/73
Letter to Ted Berrigan 1/16/74
Letter to Diane Di Prima 3/12/74
Postcard to Barrett Watten 12/13/74
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 9/29/75
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 11/1/75
Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Hilton Power (Helen Creeley) 3/16/76
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 4/4/76
Postcard to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 4/10/76
Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 4/21/76
Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 5/24/76
Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 5/27/76
Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 5/27/76
Letter to Robert Grenier 7/4/76
Letter to Denise Levertov 11/17/76
Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 11/21/76
Letter to Robert Grenier 11/24/76
Letter to Robert Duncan 2/2/77
Letter to Robert Grenier 5/17/77
Letter to Charles Bernstein 2/6/79
Letter to George Butterick 4/12/79
Letter to John Taggart 6/12/79
Letter to Robert Duncan 3/15/80
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 6/11/80
Letter to John Taggart 7/3/80
Letter to Stan and Jane Brakhage 10/13/80
Letter to Stan and Jane Brakhage 1/29/81
Postcard to Charles Bernstein 1/30/81
Letter to Charles Bernstein 1/5/82
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 11/14/82
Letter to Robert Duncan 1/18/83
Letter to Alice Notley 7/5/83
Postcard to Ed and Jennifer Dorn 10/9/83
Letter to Denise Levertov 2/1/84
Letter to Robert Duncan 3/22/84
Letter to John Taggart 11/3/84
Postcard to Barrett Watten 11/23/84
Letter to Tom Clark 1/9/85
Letter to Charles Bernstein 9/17/85
Letter to Carl Rakosi 2/16/87
Letter to Tom Clark 2/23/87
Postcard to Leslie Scalapino 3/6/88
Letter to Susan Howe 9/25/88
Letter to Robert Grenier 12/18/88
Letter to Helen [Creeley] and Wayne Power 3/12/89
Letter to Susan Howe 3/24/89
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 4/23/89
Part 6. If I Were Writing This, 1989–2005: Maine, Buffalo, Providence
Letter to Robert Grenier 8/10/89
Letter to Paul Auster 8/17/89
Letter to Susan Howe 2/15/90
Letter to Susan Howe 3/17/90
Letter to Charles Bernstein 3/31/90
Fax to Charles Bernstein 8/21/90
Letter to Robert Grenier 6/4/91
Letter to Allen Ginsberg 1/1/92
Fax to Barbara Jellow, University of California Press 3/12/92
Fax to Barbara Jellow, University of California Press 3/16/92
Fax to Tom Thompson, The National Poetry Series 5/18/92
Letter to Warren Tallman 9/25/92
Fax to Allen Ginsberg 6/16/93
Fax to Allen Ginsberg 6/18/93
E-mail to Peter Gizzi 10/12/93
E-mail to Charles Bernstein 3/1/94
Letter to Eric Mottram 3/5/94
Fax to Steve Lacy and Irene Aebi 11/13/94
Letter to Jim Dine 12/12/94
Fax to Elizabeth Fox 1/26/95
Fax to Peter Quartermain/Peter Glassgold [2/24/95]
E-mail to Benjamin Friedlander 4/10/95
E-mail to Peter Gizzi and Elizabeth Willis 2/15/96
Letter to Kurt Vonnegut 5/23/96
Letter to Kurt Vonnegut 6/17/96
E-mail to Simon Pettet 10/11/96
E-mail to Tom Raworth [October 1996]
Letter to Marjorie Perloff [11/10/96]
E-mail to Benjamin Friedlander [4/7/97]
E-mail to Benjamin Friedlander [4/19/97]
E-mail to Charles Bernstein [April 1997]
Letter to Denny Moers 5/31/97
Letter to William Wadsworth, Executive Director, Academy of American Poets 2/21/99
E-mail to Barrett Watten 1/20/00
Letter to Sarah Creeley 8/2/00
Letter to Francesco Clemente 1/31/01
Letter to Joel Kuszai 2/13/01
Letter to Henry Reath, President, Board of Directors of the Academy of American Poets 10/1/01
E-mail to Sarah Creeley 8/18/02
E-mail to Will Creeley 8/21/02
E-mail to UB English Department Listserv 9/19/02
E-mail to Penelope Creeley 10/8/02
E-mail to Barrett Watten 7/9/03
E-mail to Rod Smith 7/17/03
Letter to Carl Rakosi 9/22/03
E-mail to Ammiel Alcalay 12/1/03
E-mail to Angelica Clark 5/17/04
E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 6/17/04
E-mail to Donald Revell 11/6/04
E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 1/4/05
E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 1/5/05
E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 1/6/05
E-mail to Lisa Jarnot 1/16/05
E-mail to Michael Kelleher 3/7/05
Notes
Acknowledgment of Permissions
Index
