Please Continue: Literary Correspondence as Conversation

Navigation Menu+

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.

New and Selected Poems

North Carolina native Eleanor Ross Taylor, who was married to Peter Taylor, published six collections of poetry. Fellow North Carolinian Stuart Wright published this collection, New and Selected Poems, in 1983. Eleanor Ross Taylor went on to receive several major poetry prizes in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Title	New and Selected Poems
Creator	Eleanor Ross Taylor
Publisher	United States: Stuart Wright Palaemon Press
Date	1983
Source	Wills Fugitive and Agrarian Collection