Please Continue: Literary Correspondence as Conversation

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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.

Lightwood

Lightwood was Brainard Cheney’s first novel. When Flannery O’Connor published her first novel, Wise Blood, in 1952, Cheney wrote a glowing review of her book in Shenandoah literary magazine. The two became good friends after O’Connor wrote Cheney to thank him for the review, and they corresponded and visited each other often over the next decade.

Title	Lightwood
Creator	Brainard Cheney
Publisher	Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Date	1939
Source	Wills Fugitive and Agrarian Collection