This exhibit may be viewed in the Vanderbilt Special Collections Library at 1101 19th Ave. S. from August 22 through December 2024. This virtual space contains some bonus items not present in the physical exhibit.
In Summary
The letters in this exhibit span a century of English literature, from the 1880s to the 1980s, and each one was sent with the hope that it would bring a response in return, continuing the conversation. Because the fiction writers and poets who wrote this correspondence were all devoted to the craft of writing, their missives are works of art in themselves, albeit more personal and playful than their published volumes had the freedom to be. Each author’s epistles express personality not only through the chosen text, but also through paper color, handwriting, choice of writing utensil, and the many other physical details required to complete and mail a letter. The messages also hint at the lives on the receiving end of the correspondence, prompting us to imagine responses to the questions asked, praises doled out, and affections expressed.
![[Postcard from Richard Wilbur to Peter Taylor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item07together-640x480.jpg)
![[Letter from Langston Hughes to Manuel Zapata Olivella]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item08A-copy-640x480.jpg)
![[Letter from Langston Hughes to Manuel Zapata Olivella]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item08together-640x480.jpg)
![[Photographs of Flannery O’Connor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item11together-640x480.jpg)
![Bonus: [Letter from Flannery O’Connor to Brainard and Frances Cheney]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item01B-copy-640x480.jpg)
![[Letter from Flannery O’Connor to Brainard and Frances Cheney]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item01together-640x480.jpg)
![[Letter from Flannery O’Connor to Brainard and Frances Cheney]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item02-copy-640x480.jpg)
![[Postcard from Eudora Welty to Peter Taylor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item06A-copy-1-640x480.jpg)
![[Photograph of Peter Taylor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item10-copy-640x480.jpg)
![[Letter from Elizabeth Bishop to Peter and Eleanor Taylor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item03together-640x480.jpg)
![[Notes from Robert Lowell to Eleanor Ross Taylor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item04B-copy-640x480.jpg)
![[Letter from Robert Lowell to Peter Taylor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item05A-copy-640x480.jpg)
![[Letter from Robert Lowell to Peter Taylor]](https://exhibitions.library.vanderbilt.edu/literaryletters/wp-content/uploads/sites/96/2024/08/case3item05B-copy-640x480.jpg)
