Mona Van Duyn May 9th marks the 1921 birthday of Mona Van Duyn, world renowned poet, academic, editor and founder of Perspective: A Quarterly of Literature and the Arts, and beloved patron of the arts. Van Duyn has won every major American award for poetry , including the National Book Awa...
The Films of Samuel Beckett Following the production of his full-length plays–Waiting for Godot (1949), Endgame (1957), Krapp’s Last Tape (1958) and Happy Days (1961)–and the publication of his sprawling novels–Molloy (1951), Malone Dies (1951), and The Unnameable (...
Stanley Elkin’s Boswell and Mrs. Ted Bliss On April 1st, Stanley Elkin published both his first novel–Boswell (Random House, 1964)–and his final novel–Mrs. Ted Bliss (Hyperion, 1995). Original typescripts of both these definitive texts can be found in the Modern Lit...
An Interview with Dr. Geoffrey Hill on the Irwell Edition of Anthony Burgess’s Devil of a State Last week, Dr. Geoffrey Hill traveled from Cambridge, Massachusetts to view the MLC’s Anthony Burgess Papers. Dr. Hill’s research focused on the original typescript for Burge...
James Merrill’s Early Years To commemorate the March 3, 1926 birthday of MLC author James Merrill, we present “Baby’s Own Book”: a regal silk-draped testament to the legacy he inherited. The son of wealthy Charles E. Merrill–founding partner of Merrill Lynch I...
Robert Duncan’s Bending the Bow Today–March 1st–marks the original release date of Robert Duncan‘s poetry collection, Bending the Bow. The original text was published in 1968 by New Directions, which described the text as “a multiphasic projection of movements in a f...
William Jay Smith’s The Straw Market Today–March 1st—marks the original release date for William Jay Smith’s comedic play, The Straw Market. The Straw Market premiered in 1966 at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, where Smith was then serving as a writer-in-residence. This sati...
Happy Birthday, Howard Nemerov! Born on a Leap Day–February 29, 1920–Howard Nemerov was destined to break the mold. His work was known for its unique mix of wit and playfulness framed within meticulous formalist structures. Nemerov’s poem “Because You Asked A...
Welcome to the Modern Literature Collection Blog We are excited to introduce the Modern Literature Collection Blog, a go-to resource for new acquisitions, current projects, and upcoming events related to the Modern Literature Collection, part of Washington University Libraries’ Depa...
