Robert Creeley is one of the most celebrated and influential American poets. A stylist of the highest order, Creeley imbued his correspondence with the literary artistry he brought to his poetry. Through his engagements with mentors such as William Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound, peers such as Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac, and mentees such as Charles Bernstein, Anselm Berrigan, Ed Dorn, Susan Howe, and Tom Raworth, Creeley helped forge a new poetry that re-imagined writing for his and subsequent generations. This first-ever volume of his letters, written between 1945 and 2005, document the life, work, and times of one of our greatest writers, and represent a critical archive of the development of contemporary American poetry, as well as the changing nature of letter-writing and communication in the digital era.

List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsChronologyEditors' IntroductionPart 1. The Charm, 1945-1952: Burma, New Hampshire, Aix-en-ProvenceLetter to Genevieve and Helen Creeley 1/20/45Letter to Genevieve and Helen Creeley 4/13/45Letter to Genevieve and Helen Creeley 5/10/45Letter to Genevieve Creeley 5/15/45Letter to Bob Leed 6/21/48Letter to Bob Leed [ca. August 1948]Letter to William Carlos Williams 2/11/50Letter to William Carlos Williams 2/27/50Letter to Larry Eigner [ca. February 1950]Letter to Ezra Pound 4/14/50Letter to William Carlos Williams 4/15/50Letter to Cid Corman [4/23/50]Letter to William Carlos Williams 4/24/50Letter to Charles Olson 4/24/50Letter to Charles Olson 4/28/50Letter to Charles Olson 6/5/50Letter to Dorothy Pound 6/15/50Letter to Charles Olson 6/21/50Letter to Charles Olson [10/18/50]Letter to Charles Olson [11/9/50]Letter to Paul Blackburn [11/29/50]Letter to Charles Olson [12/7/50]Letter to Mitch Goodman [1951]Letter to Denise Levertov and Mitch Goodman 4/18/51Letter to Denise Levertov 4/22/51Letter to Paul Blackburn 5/23/51Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/29/51Letter to William Carlos Williams 8/1/51Letter to William Carlos Williams 9/27/51Letter to Denise Levertov 10/3/51Letter to Mitch Goodman 10/3/51Letter to Horace Schwartz [late 1951]Letter to Larry Eigner [undated, 1951]Letter to René Laubiès [5/25/52]Letter to Paul Blackburn 6/22/52Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/27/52Letter to Charles Olson 7/15/52Letter to Robert Duncan 7/19/52Part 2. Black Mountain Review, 1953-1956: Majorca, Black Mountain, San FranciscoLetter to Paul Blackburn 1/9/53Letter to Charles Olson 4/8/53Letter to Charles Olson 7/19/53Letter to Paul Blackburn 9/17/53Letter to Jonathan Williams 9/23/53Letter to Paul Blackburn 10/15/53Letter to Denise Levertov 2/3/54Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/6/54Letter to Kenneth Rexroth 8/14/54Letter to Kenneth Rexroth 8/19/54Letter to William Carlos Williams 8/21/54Letter to Louis Zukofsky 11/10/54Letter to William Carlos Williams 11/25/54Letter to William Carlos Williams 12/6/54Letter to Cid Corman 12/24/54Letter to William Carlos Williams 1/26/55Letter to Alexander Trocchi 4/23/55Letter to Jack Spicer 9/5/55Letter to Robert Duncan 9/6/55Letter to Robert Duncan 9/24/55Letter to William Carlos Williams 10/31/55Letter to Charles Olson 5/17/56Letter to Jack Kerouac 5/26/56Letter to Charles Olson 5/28/56Part 3. For Love, 1956-1963: New Mexico, Guatemala, VancouverLetter to Mitch Goodman 7/18/56Letter to William Carlos Williams 8/8/56Letter to Allen Ginsberg [9/19/56]Letter to Jack Kerouac 10/11/56Letter to Mitch Goodman 11/4/56Letter to William Carlos Williams 1/1/57Letter to Denise Levertov 1/23/57Letter to Allen Ginsberg 2/6/57Letter to Ed Dorn 4/27/57Postcard to Donald M. Allen [undated, ca. 1958]Letter to Jack Kerouac 1/31/58Letter to Paul Blackburn 3/8/58Letter to Denise Levertov 4/22/58Letter to Denise Levertov and Mitch Goodman 8/13/58Letter to Ed Dorn 11/16/58Letter to Robert Duncan 8/20/59Letter to Allen Ginsberg 9/7/59Letter to Jack Kerouac 9/28/59Letter to Robert Duncan [undated, ca. October 1959]Letter to Jack Kerouac 10/20/59Letter to Genevieve Creeley 10/26/59Letter to Ed Dorn 10/26/59Letter to Allen Ginsberg 10/31/59Letter to LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) 11/8/59Letter to Jerome Rothenberg 12/16/59Letter to William Carlos Williams 12/24/59Letter to Charles Olson 12/24/59Letter to Jonathan Williams 1/5/60Letter to Ed Dorn 1/9/60Letter to William Carlos Williams 1/10/60Letter to Donald M. Allen 1/16/60Letter to William Carlos Williams 3/16/60Letter to Louis Zukofsky 3/30/60Letter to Paul Blackburn 4/24/60Letter to Ed Dorn 9/14/60Letter to William Carlos Williams 9/21/60Letter to Jerome Rothenberg 11/6/60Letter to Ed Dorn 11/20/60Letter to William Carlos Williams 12/18/60Letter to Jerome Rothenberg 12/18/60Letter to Hugh Kenner 12/18/60Letter to Paul Blackburn 1/11/61Letter to Ed Dorn 1/19/61Letter to Tom Raworth 1/23/61Letter to Charles Olson 1/29/61Letter to Louis Zukofsky 3/17/61Letter to Ed Dorn 3/26/61Letter to Louis Zukofsky 6/26/61Letter to Ed and Helene Dorn 10/9/61Letter to Jack Kerouac 1/19/62Letter to Charles Olson 4/6/62Letter to Jack Kerouac 5/30/62Letter to William Carlos Williams 6/4/62Letter to Warren Tallman 6/12/62Letter to Rosmarie Waldrop 8/17/62Postcard to Jack Kerouac 11/25/62Part 4. Pieces, 1963-1973: New Mexico, Buffalo, BolinasPostcard to Warren Tallman 5/7/63Letter to Paul Blackburn 8/30/63Letter to Ed Dorn 9/13/63Letter to Denise Levertov 10/19/63Letter to LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) 10/21/63Letter to Clark Coolidge 10/26/63Letter to Alexander Trocchi 11/1/63Letter to Andrew Crozier 11/15/63Letter to Denise Levertov 11/16/63Letter to Tom Raworth 2/7/64Letter to Stan Brakhage 3/28/64Telegram to Charles Olson 3/31/64Letter to Charles Olson 4/1/64Letter to Alexander Trocchi 7/16/64Letter to Ed Dorn 7/26/64Letter to Louis Zukofsky 12/29/64Letter to Ed Dorn 6/2/65Letter to Allen Ginsberg 6/2/65Letter to Tom and Valerie Raworth 6/23/65Letter to Charles Olson 10/16/65Letter to Stephen Rodefer 1/11/66Letter to Charles Olson 1/26/66Letter to Robert Duncan 4/8/66Letter to Bela Zempleny, U.S. Department of State 4/8/66Letter to Charles Olson 5/3/66Postcard to Robert Duncan 5/6/66Postcard to Allen Ginsberg 9/10/66Letter to Charles Olson 9/24/66Letter to Robert Duncan 3/6/67Letter to George Oppen 3/19/67Letter to Robert Duncan 10/26/67Letter To whom it may concern 11/30/67Letter to Paul Blackburn 1/15/68Letter to Louis Zukofsky 9/7/68Letter to the Albuquerque Journal 9/16/68Letter to Robert Duncan 02/12/69Postcard to Gregory Corso 10/21/69Letter to Charles Olson 1/1/70Telegram to Hon. Byron McMillan 2/23/70Letter to Allen Ginsberg 6/20/70Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 9/3/70Postcard to Sarah Creeley [9/4/70]Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) [ca. 1970]Letter to Genevieve Creeley 8/29/71Postcard to Armand Schwerner 10/10/71Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 11/9/72Part 5. Echoes, 1973-1989: Buffalo, Maine, HelsinkiLetter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 1/17/73Letter to Allen Ginsberg 1/28/73Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 1/29/73Letter to Kate Creeley 4/26/73Letter to Ted Berrigan 1/16/74Letter to Diane Di Prima 3/12/74Postcard to Barrett Watten 12/13/74Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 9/29/75Letter to Allen Ginsberg 11/1/75Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Hilton Power (Helen Creeley) 3/16/76Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 4/4/76Postcard to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 4/10/76Letter to Bobbie Creeley (Bobbie Louise Hawkins) 4/21/76Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 5/24/76Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 5/27/76Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 5/27/76Letter to Robert Grenier 7/4/76Letter to Denise Levertov 11/17/76Letter to Penelope Highton (Penelope Creeley) 11/21/76Letter to Robert Grenier 11/24/76Letter to Robert Duncan 2/2/77Letter to Robert Grenier 5/17/77Letter to Charles Bernstein 2/6/79Letter to George Butterick 4/12/79Letter to John Taggart 6/12/79Letter to Robert Duncan 3/15/80Letter to Allen Ginsberg 6/11/80Letter to John Taggart 7/3/80Letter to Stan and Jane Brakhage 10/13/80Letter to Stan and Jane Brakhage 1/29/81Postcard to Charles Bernstein 1/30/81Letter to Charles Bernstein 1/5/82Letter to Allen Ginsberg 11/14/82Letter to Robert Duncan 1/18/83Letter to Alice Notley 7/5/83Postcard to Ed and Jennifer Dorn 10/9/83Letter to Denise Levertov 2/1/84Letter to Robert Duncan 3/22/84Letter to John Taggart 11/3/84Postcard to Barrett Watten 11/23/84Letter to Tom Clark 1/9/85Letter to Charles Bernstein 9/17/85Letter to Carl Rakosi 2/16/87Letter to Tom Clark 2/23/87Postcard to Leslie Scalapino 3/6/88Letter to Susan Howe 9/25/88Letter to Robert Grenier 12/18/88Letter to Helen [Creeley] and Wayne Power 3/12/89Letter to Susan Howe 3/24/89Letter to Allen Ginsberg 4/23/89Part 6. If I Were Writing This, 1989-2005: Maine, Buffalo, ProvidenceLetter to Robert Grenier 8/10/89Letter to Paul Auster 8/17/89Letter to Susan Howe 2/15/90Letter to Susan Howe 3/17/90Letter to Charles Bernstein 3/31/90Fax to Charles Bernstein 8/21/90Letter to Robert Grenier 6/4/91Letter to Allen Ginsberg 1/1/92Fax to Barbara Jellow, University of California Press 3/12/92Fax to Barbara Jellow, University of California Press 3/16/92Fax to Tom Thompson, The National Poetry Series 5/18/92Letter to Warren Tallman 9/25/92Fax to Allen Ginsberg 6/16/93Fax to Allen Ginsberg 6/18/93E-mail to Peter Gizzi 10/12/93E-mail to Charles Bernstein 3/1/94Letter to Eric Mottram 3/5/94Fax to Steve Lacy and Irene Aebi 11/13/94Letter to Jim Dine 12/12/94Fax to Elizabeth Fox 1/26/95Fax to Peter Quartermain/Peter Glassgold [2/24/95]E-mail to Benjamin Friedlander 4/10/95E-mail to Peter Gizzi and Elizabeth Willis 2/15/96Letter to Kurt Vonnegut 5/23/96Letter to Kurt Vonnegut 6/17/96E-mail to Simon Pettet 10/11/96E-mail to Tom Raworth [October 1996]Letter to Marjorie Perloff [11/10/96]E-mail to Benjamin Friedlander [4/7/97]E-mail to Benjamin Friedlander [4/19/97]E-mail to Charles Bernstein [April 1997]Letter to Denny Moers 5/31/97Letter to William Wadsworth, Executive Director, Academy of American Poets 2/21/99E-mail to Barrett Watten 1/20/00Letter to Sarah Creeley 8/2/00Letter to Francesco Clemente 1/31/01Letter to Joel Kuszai 2/13/01Letter to Henry Reath, President, Board of Directors of the Academy of American Poets 10/1/01E-mail to Sarah Creeley 8/18/02E-mail to Will Creeley 8/21/02E-mail to UB English Department Listserv 9/19/02E-mail to Penelope Creeley 10/8/02E-mail to Barrett Watten 7/9/03E-mail to Rod Smith 7/17/03Letter to Carl Rakosi 9/22/03E-mail to Ammiel Alcalay 12/1/03E-mail to Angelica Clark 5/17/04E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 6/17/04E-mail to Donald Revell 11/6/04E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 1/4/05E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 1/5/05E-mail to Anselm Berrigan 1/6/05E-mail to Lisa Jarnot 1/16/05E-mail to Michael Kelleher 3/7/05NotesAcknowledgment of PermissionsIndex