William Carlos Williams

"The Correspondence of William Carlos Williams and Louis Zukofsky chronicles the professional and personal relationship between Williams and Zukofsky as they present one another with criticism, suggestions and confidences that are at turns touching and astonishingly candid. In addition to delving into the creative processes of the two men, this exciting and extensive collection provides important insight into the development of Modernism and into literary icons such as Ezra Pound, E.E. Cummings and T.S. Eliot. The analytical voice of Zukofsky and the experimental style of Williams radiate in these letters, creating a vivid and invaluable document of American literature."--Jacket.

"Significantly deepening our understanding of two key figures from the modernist period, The Humane Particulars collects the letters between William Carlos Williams and Kenneth Burke. Written during forty-two years of close friendship and literary debate, these nearly 250 letters span two long lives, two complicated personalities, and two brilliantly productive careers. The animated exchange between a canonical poet and the leading American rhetorical critic of the twentieth century offers a more complete vision of their outlooks and their contributions to the shape and tenor of the modernist scene." "Set in context by James H. East's introduction and explanatory notes, the letters begin just after Burke and William's initial meeting in 1921 during a tramp through a New Jersey swamp and surrounding meadowlands. Their written exchange follows the maturing of their friendship and professional regard. The correspondence shows that Williams and Burke were fast friends during the experimental twenties, preoccupied by individual and divergent projects in the thirties and early forties, and reunited as enthusiastic correspondents after the Second World War." "The letters refer to happy times spent together - walks in the woods, picnics and swimming, and visits to Burke's farm in Andover, New Jersey. They reveal, among other interesting personal matters, Burke's fascination with William's double life as physician and poet, Burke's hypochondria, and William's at times chastising medical advice to Burke. But, more important, the letters preserve the continual wrangling over the origin and nature of literary form that enlightened the pair's many disagreements. Of particular interest, the correspondence documents a largely unexplored aspect of Burke's career - his reciprocally influential relationship with the writers of the late modern and midcentury periods."--Jacket.

An important chapter in the story of Anglo-American literary relationships in the twentieth century is the friendship of the American poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) and the English poet Charles Tomlinson (1927- ). The two men assisted and encouraged each other in a variety of ways, and their transatlantic dialogue continues to interest readers and critics of modern and contemporary poetry. This edition includes the correspondence of Williams and Tomlinson, a selection of their critical writings, observations on their relationship by Hugh Kenner, Paul Mariani, and Donald Davie, and a selection of poems by Tomlinson that show the influence of Williams.

New Directions has long published poet William Carlos Williams' entire body of short fiction as The Farmers' Daughters (1961). This new edition of The Collected Stories of William Carlos Williams contains all fifty-two stories combining the early collections The Knife of the Times (1932), Life Along the Possaic (1938) with the later collection Make Light of It (1950) and the great long story, "The Farmers' Daughters" (1956). When these stories first appeared, their vitality and immediacy shocked many readers, as did the blunt, idiosyncratic speech of Williams' immigrant and working-class characters. But the passage of time has silenced the detractors, and what shines in the best of these stories is the unflinching honesty and deep humanity of Williams' portraits, burnished by the seeming artlessness which only the greatest masters command.

A dozen poems on love by a New Jersey obstetrician (1883-1963) who often wrote them on office prescription pads. In the title poem, first published when he was 72, he wrote: "What power has love but forgiveness? / In other words / by its intervention / what has been done / can be undone."

The correspondence of William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) and James Laughlin (1914-) began in December 1933. Laughlin asked Williams for a contribution to the student literary magazine, the "Advocate", which appeared in the February 1934 issue. This began the relationship between an author and a publisher.

This collection of thirteen doctor stories, six poems on medical matters, and a selection from The Autobiography "can help many others take a knowing look at the medical profession."

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was born in Rutherford, New Jersey. He received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he met and befriended Ezra Pound and H.D. (Hilda Doolittle). At the same time as maintaining a popular medical practice, he became a prolific poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright. Experimenting with new techniques of meter and lineation, Williams sought to invent an entirely fresh and singularly American poetics, whose subject matter was centered on the everyday circumstances of life and the lives of common people. He was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2009.