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.

[Notes from Marianne Moore to Lawrence S. Thompson]

In the 1960s, Lawrence S. Thompson, a librarian at the University of Kentucky, wrote to hundreds of poets requesting contributions for “a little exhibit of manuscripts of modern poets.” The poets responded with varying degrees of enthusiasm, as you can see in Vanderbilt’s Kentucky Poetry Project Collection. Marianne Moore responded affirmatively, but she made sure to let Thompson know that she was doing him a great favor.

Title	[Notes from Marianne Moore to Lawrence S. Thompson]
Creator	Marianne Moore
Date	April 11, 1963
Source	Kentucky Poetry Project Collection