The Collected Letters of Charles Olson and J. H. Prynne (Recencies Series: Research and Recovery in Twentieth-Century American Poetics)

Edited by poet and scholar Ryan Dobran, this volume of correspondence between the American poet Charles Olson (1910–1970) and the English poet J. H. Prynne (b. 1936) sheds light on a little-known but incredibly influential aspect of twentieth-century transatlantic literary culture. Never before published, the letters capture their shared passion for knowledge as well as their distinct writing styles. Written between 1961 and Olson’s death in 1970, the letters display the mutual admiration and intimacy that developed between the two poets after Prynne initiated their exchange when pursuing work for the literary magazine Prospect. This work illustrates how Olson and Prynne influenced each other, and it represents an important step toward understanding their contributions to poetics on both sides of the Atlantic.