Robert Bly and James Wright: A Correspondence.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	Robert Bly and James Wright: A Correspondence.
Authors:	Genoways, Ted
Source:	Virginia Quarterly Review. Winter2005, Vol. 81 Issue 1, p104-131. 28p.
Subjects:	Bly, Robert, 1926-, Wright, James Arlington, 1927-1980, Letter writing, Poets, American poetry, 21st century (Literary period)
Abstract:	This essay presents a correspondence between the young poet-editor Robert Bly and James Wright, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Based on stories heard by the author, James Wright had nearly given up writing early in his career. An unexpected copy of a new magazine called "The Fifties" and the ensuing correspondence with its editor Robert Bly saved his writing career. The correspondence bloomed into a friendship, and Wright's best and most famous poems were written at Bly's farm in Madison, Minnesota. The two men, still strangers, yet camerados, were feeling their way toward something bigger together. In such peak moment of Wright's crisis and Bly's righteous indignation, it is a blessing that they found each other. Their lives were changed, and so was the American poetry. Robert Bly described his friendship with James as well as his admiration for James' poetry. In a letter to Bly, James stated that he is to quit his career being a poet. The copy of the magazine he received changed his views of poetry. James recognized Bly for sending him a copy of the magazine. He gave his comment on poems written by various poets such as Donald Hall, W. D. Snodgrass and Gary Snyder. Wright's commentary on the essay "Five Decades of Modern American Poetry" was also given.
Database:	Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection

Description
Abstract:	This essay presents a correspondence between the young poet-editor Robert Bly and James Wright, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Based on stories heard by the author, James Wright had nearly given up writing early in his career. An unexpected copy of a new magazine called "The Fifties" and the ensuing correspondence with its editor Robert Bly saved his writing career. The correspondence bloomed into a friendship, and Wright's best and most famous poems were written at Bly's farm in Madison, Minnesota. The two men, still strangers, yet camerados, were feeling their way toward something bigger together. In such peak moment of Wright's crisis and Bly's righteous indignation, it is a blessing that they found each other. Their lives were changed, and so was the American poetry. Robert Bly described his friendship with James as well as his admiration for James' poetry. In a letter to Bly, James stated that he is to quit his career being a poet. The copy of the magazine he received changed his views of poetry. James recognized Bly for sending him a copy of the magazine. He gave his comment on poems written by various poets such as Donald Hall, W. D. Snodgrass and Gary Snyder. Wright's commentary on the essay "Five Decades of Modern American Poetry" was also given.
ISSN:	0042675X