William Goyen: Selected Letters from a Writer's Life

By: William Goyen and Robert Phillips

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Synopsis: Proclaimed "one of the great American writers of short fiction" by the New York Times Book Review, William Goyen (1915-1983) had a quintessentially American literary career, in which national recognition and a wide readership came only after years of struggle to find his authentic voice, his audience, and a sustaining artistic milieu in which to create. These letters, which span the years 1937 to 1983, chronicle Goyen's long participation in the writing life and offer a compelling testament to what it means to be a writer in America. A prolific correspondent, Goyen wrote regularly to friends, family, editors, and other writers, both well known and unknown. Among the letters selected here are those to such major literary figures as W. H. Auden, Archibald MacLeish, Anaïs Nin, Margo Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, William Inge, James Laughlin, John Lehmann, Elia Kazan, Granville Hicks, Daniel Stern, Elizabeth Spencer, James Leo Herlihy, Ned Rorem, and Katherine Anne Porter. These letters constitute a virtual autobiography for Goyen aficionados, while newcomers to his work will find this book a fascinating introduction. Revealing the passions and concerns that informed his impressive body of novels, short story and poetry collections, and nonfiction, it adds an important chapter to the study of American and Texas literature of the twentieth century.