Correspondence, Earle Birney

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2 West 67th. StreetHew York 23, N.Y,February 27, 1957Dear Earle,lias I uao "Hands'1, "This Pago 3Jy Pigeon", "Pacific Door- , ’’Slug in Voods", "Man is a Snow" and J Ilappemoiuulc*’ of /oars in ny new Penguin anthology of Canadian poetry? I shall, of ocur3e, write Ryeraonr- who I take it liold all neooasary copyrights?Tha toxt of the anthology is done— the index as usual is tight as a drm- but I have got 2^6 pages this tiiae, so can givg a fairly adequate survey cf the last hundred years (no poetry, anyway, before that was there?). As soon as I can got i^rsolf to do adequately a Preface, the book goos off to Penguin's in I3nglt\nd-and Should a;poar sometime toward the end of the year.Would you by eny ohanoe liave an address for Halcoln Lowry- who I bo Hove is now in Italy? I would like to include two of his poena. I have throe beautiful sonnets of Roy's in. And would you know the procedure for pominsion for a poem of Bertram WarrJ Hate to bother you, but it would be a great help.Any forthcoming publication you'd like stated in the Biographical Notes?Any chanco of your being in the East— Ne?/ Yorlc? Please let ro know, and roiaeraber ne to Usther- with all best wishes,Yours,
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Mr Z/sqMAN IS A SNOWNot the cougar leaping to mythfrom the orange lynx of our flamenot the timber swooing to deathin the shock of the saw's bright whinebut the rotograved liethe pine resurrected in slumand a nursery of crosses abroadNot the death of the prairie grassIKxWEB HZ XBX0B BM HHE BX Z XZEESIKXin the blind wheat's heading but the harvest mildewed in doubtand the starved in the hour of hoardingnot the rivers we foul but our bloodo cold and more devious rushingMan is a snow that cracksthe trees' red resijjous archesand winters his cabined hearttill the chilled nail shrinks in the walland pistols the brittle airtill frost like ferns of the world that is lost unfurls on the darkening windowEarle Birney
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THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIAVANCOUVER 8, CANADA2 Mar 57DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISHDear Ralph,Good to hear from you and to know that a long-needed reappearance of your Penguin anthology was on the boards.Cant help you much about Lowry.Last I heard he had left Italy and was in an alocholic wa^d in England, but that was some time ago. I'd write his London publisher^ .For B^ram'^Warr permissions, "write his sister. Her last adress isCu '*-*—7 >vrre'< 'I have nothing new coming out,but am enclosing the university's curr. vitae in case there's anything in it you want to pick up.All the poems you list of mine are from volumes Kfrtsh whose copyrights have reverted to me. Ryersons have nothing to do with them, only with the fourth volume of perse of mine, Trial of a City. I should be happy to see something from it in your anthology as I feel some of it is better than anything you have selected—however, you must be the judge of that.If you do decide to select anything from Trial, you'll have; to write Ryersons.Otherwise,?8 t^emyin°lrin^e coPyriShts to ^Vid.Now is t±me.& Strait.when they failedYou have my‘permission to use "This page my pigeon", "Pacific door", "Slug in Woods" and "Mappemounde". You can use "Man is a Snow" on condition you take the revised version, published only in Outposts(London). I enclose a copy of the text. I 'Chink it is better,and at least it is shorter. I would prefer not to have "Hands" used, as I think it is dated and too often sentimental in phrasing. If you want suggestions for an alternative, here are some,from Trial: St.Valentine is past, Takkakaw falls, Bushed, Biography. Sorry to be slightly uncooperative, but I would rather be Represented by fewer pieces than by some I'm no longer happy about.I'll be in Ottawa in June,giving a paper at the Royal Soc. of Can., then in Toronto for a fww weeks.By mid-July I'll be in Iowa and then Montana, lecturing.Somewhere in there I may get to N.Y., I dont know. Turvey was made into a stage play this winter by Don Harron(at present acting in "Separate Tables" on Broadway) and it had a 5-week run in Toronto(Mavor Moore's Avenue Theatre).It good a good notice in Variety and this led to a lot of NY interest and offers of options for a Bdwy show.But we havent given an option out as we think it couldnt compete with "No time for eergeants" at the moment,and there is perhaps a greener or firmer field in London,where Lorne Green wants to take it. However, all this may make it wise for me to drop dow£ to NY,if Harron is still there. There may be a 90 min. Americana tv version too. If I go, I do hope you'll be in town and that we can have a good get-together,and hear your own news.All tthe best from Esther and myself,
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2 West 67th StreetHaw York 23, N.Y*: larch 12, 1957Dear Earle,Lany thanks for your letter. Your group for tho Penguin Book of Canadian Poetry is: PACIFIC .DOOR, TfilS PA'JE m P1GECH, BUSESD,SLu m .'00JJ3, ;.iAV-. 2ii A bliOl , and 3&PPE2KHJHBE*I thinic a right one? is that all right? (I used tho version you sent ne of IJui IS A SHOW— it differs considerably from tho version in Houtposts” which you mentioned} • I can offer -5*00 a poen. A gallant sxm indeed, but publishers are hard bankers. I 3hall acknowledge permissions to you for all except t!Bushed”— and for that one, write Pyerson.Kany thanks for the help on the addresses. The copyright business is endless. Except for that the KS would have been off to England.Glad to hear of the successes of TUHirEY-- and hope to see it on Broadway- and that, I hope brings you to KY. I expect to be here" most of the sursner except for a brief holiday in the Eastern Townships.J*ve been getting a few lyrics down on paper— tMs nighty epic:FROM A KAEtJW PRIHTThe man walks by the flower.Frogs slap ttieir sides,The hare rolls with laughter.Ever yours,
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2 Wo st 6Yth LitroetTu v. Z3ii;cr«3i',y 3, 1957Dear Jarle,vkmld J tii’ua^iu you to support im with r. lott; :*? I **a allying for a folic ..'ship frt'a ' ’h-i Canada Cowell— under Category 10: “j.Ii® Council will bo preparod to give conolder;tion to ipostal appllcat ions for* full tor*. fellowships, fi-om scholars .a1.- wo: ers of distinction in Lno ; . t,. .X stated f.iat I would like to havo a cloar ,/oai* fo* ti_-*oo worlds in ^ogress; a Purfchor bo- -1; of x>e€W*3; a hook of short stories* and «, final revision of t>. novel .‘to vk. .o j\\ \ '..Phipc»,T : :-.cai.ld like to :vt taste. a lotte* from yvn in support, if you fit,I havo a proaslao out of P^n^uins In Jtaglaod t’yit the ^ntl.olcf^r -will bo p-ulliahad in tho etjartm?-'•*-» i'eagttia Boole of Canadian Vo^*so, they want uo oail it*All the best.
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27th November, 1?57.Tho Secretary,The Caneda Council,140 -Jellington street, Ottawa, Ont.Dear Sir, -SupportI am happy to p«#eet the application of Mr. Ralph Gustafson for a full-term fellowship under Category 10 of yoar Memorandum.In my opinion, tr. Gustafson has made outstanding contributions to Canadian literature and Canadian literary scholarship through the publication of his antholo -ies and his own poems. From the one or two short stories of his which I have read, I would expect him to be equally successful in the field of prose fiction. Despite the fact that ,^r. Gustafson has been living for a number of years in New York, he has continued to make an i ipact on Cadadi -n literature as a Canadian.Froi my personal acquaintance with ir. Gmtafson I am confident that he would benefit from the freedom which ycur fellowship would aaJce possible and that he would use his time industriously and in a r.anner that would benefit us all.Sincerely yours,Earle Birney.E3/ adh
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THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIAVANCOUVER 8, CANADADEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH28th November, 1957.Mr. Ralph Gustafson,2 West 67th Street, New York 23, N. Y., U.S.A.Dear Ralph,Apologies for my delay in writing the attached, and further apologies for being absent-minded enough to send the original directly to the Canada Council.Only now do I realize that you asked me to send the letter to you. Anyway here is a copy and the original has already gone out, and 1 hope one way or another that you get the award. You certainly deserve one.I am in the peculiar position of having applied myself but I don’t see that this should disqualify me as a supporter of you. I hope we both get one.Here’s to reunion in Rome within the year.Best regards,EB/adh
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2 West 67th StreetHow York 23, N.Y.December if, 195>7Dear Earle,I do thank you for the very generous letter wMoh you have aent on my behalf to the Canada Counoil*This should help immensely to turn the trick. I am 3uro it ia all right that your letter went ahead- at any rate,I have pointed this out to the Council in my letter.There seemed no particular date in front of which application for Category 10 had to get— so I thought to include the lotters-in-aupport in my cover- which gets off uirmail today.I didn’t know quite what category- not necessarily having to travel (whichCategory 3 seemed to demand) though I*d like to well enough- ao I put myself in the Special one of 10.Do hope you get the Fellowship- you mention Rome— will you be there? If so, please drop me a line with an address on it, so I can look you up if I am lucky enough to get thore. Art Smith tells me he is taking a year in Europe. A poetic migration.Ifve had a letter this weok from Allen Lane of Penguins. Lly anthology is out of the hands of the typographers and ahld be being set right away. I am anxious to have it out by Spring.Again many thanks. I am indebted.Your3 ever,
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Apt 2D515 West 168th StreetNew York 32, N.Y.February 2}±, 1959Dear Earle,I had brief word of you from Art Smith in his last latter, and another, from Bill McConell today. 3ill also told me of Dorothy Livesay*s loss. A sad thing- and a shock, I should imagine, to get such news abroad.I haven1t your English address-and so I send this via TJ.B.S. t-.-anting to get to you the enclosed cheque for (25 in payment of the reprinting of your poems in THE PENGUIN 30 OK C’ CAT ADI AIT VERSE- with many thanks for you:'' cooperation. You probably heard, from Ryerson* s in connection with the poem of yours they have under copyright._ I’ve had a few reviews of thePENGUIN- all mostly favourable— though the TLS and N.Y. Times Book Review found the introduction ’’aggressiveft & ’'nationalistic’'. Critics in Canada like it— which makes me feel better. I was beginning to think I hadn’t been gentle and modest about Cdn stuff. Reviews from England have been sparse- but perhaps there hasn’t been time yet for them to appear.I hope everything with you is thriving? My latest news from Ehgland has been full of fog (non-political). Yesterday I got off my book of poems "Rivers among Rocks" which McC & S in Toronto are brining out this fall.All the best,Yours ever,
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NEW YORKPay to theORDER OF131.Q9+APRThe Chase Manhatt.571-573 WEST 181ST STREETNEW YORK, N. Y.RALPH GUSTAFSON ELISABETH GUSTAFSON1 )<-<? DOLLARS
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17 Mar 1959Dear Ralph,Delighted to hear from you. I rot your wedding anouncement,after some delay,and sent you a card I found in the BM that seemed suitable to the occasion; did you ever get it? I think I sent it to the address on the wedding announcement,with return address. Many thanks too for the always welcome cheque. Havent heard from Ryersons but no doubt I will in th£4r own good time. I do like your new Penguin;have been keeping in a small stock of copies to pass on to my uneducated English friends,who have heard of only two Canadian writers, Mazo de la Roche and Mordecai Richler--the latter is very evident since he reviews nearly all the other Canadians locally,alas. I havent seen many reviews of it here,and none elsewhere(but then I dont attempt to keep up with anything but English press while I'm here,there's so much of that). The reviewers havent been as enthusiastic as they should be, but it is still the fashion hereabouts to be contemptuous of Canadian efforts at culture. The native English condesoion in such matters is strengthened by the tendency of the settled expatriates like Richler,Levine,etc.,to be professionally antiCanadian.In fact they are an interesting study in father-revolt,guilt feelings, success'drives and the like. One of the many things I admire about you is that^liave been able to remain one of our most understanding and influential Canadians while living somewhere else. I certainly wonldnt worry about any Englishman finding you agressively nationalistic; you incur such epithets here if you show any enthusiasm for anything from the Colonies.I suppose Art told you I'm here,till August, on a Nuffi&fcld Grant, with the faint hope I might get some sort of a book on Chaucer started or half-written before I have to go back to teaching. Have been slogging away in the B.M. Reading Room ever since September,and expect shortly to get down to some sort of writing. Evenings, of course, I %ake some advantage of the plays,music,ballet,exhibitions,and friinds—and what a joy qll these are,especially old friends, despite the really lethal London winter.I tLid take flight in Febc for two weeks to Art Smith in Cannes,after a rapid chain of three exhausting colds. But I had the flu bug in my bag and when I was shown my bed in Art's flat I climbed into it and didnt get out of it for a week. However, the second week was grand,good weather,& Art & Jcanny & I drove up to Aix and had a week-end talkfest with Ken Rexroth, an old f^end of mine. Esther didnt come to Cannes with me, as she had friends to see in Cornwall,but she is here for the year and enjoyinj seeing her family and her hometown again. Our boy is now a freshman in residence at UBC--going to be a Maths-Phyiss type.I was saddened by Dune Macnair's death; I liked him a lot. Dorothy was already,in some fashion,separated from him so I dont think it has been too great a shock for her.She is already back here,having flown to Vancouver sold up the house & brought her son back to London. Her daughter is in a school in Colorado,Dorothy may go on the staff there. She is writing some verse again. Art,to return to him for a moment, seems in good shape, writing a little,leading a very quiet life. After 6 years of rotting^or whoring with prose,I've started trying verse again myself.McC & Stewart plan a Selected Poems & promise me a joint imprint with Knopf,for a small U.S. edition, & Abelard-Schuman in London are willing to take sheets for an English edition^ simultaneously—probably this winter. This will be the first appearance of my verse in book form in either US or UK,with the result that the various publishers are »«***** on my tail to get some oi ^

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