Call Number:

C1680

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 2 boxes
• 0.63 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

circa 1957-2006 (inclusive) and 1957-1995 (bulk)

Creator:

Crosby, Anne Buchanan (1929-) and Kinnell, Galway (1927-2014)

Abstract:

Consists of letters from American poet Galway Kinnell (1927-2014) to English artist Anne Buchanan Crosby (b.1929), together with several annotated poetry typescripts and manuscripts authored by Kinnell.

Anne Buchanan Crosby (1929-) is an English artist. Born in London, Crosby lived abroad for several years in Rome, Paris, and the Var region of France. After returning to London, she painted and taught at an art school. Crobsy married architect Theo Crosby in 1960 with whom she had two children before the couple divorced. One of their children, Matthew, who was born with Down syndrome, was the subject of a memoir Crosby published in 2009 entitled Matthew (Haus Publishing).

Crosby became close friends with Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning poet Galway Kinnell (1927-2014) after meeting him in Paris in the late 1950s.

Galway Kinnell (1927-2014) was an award-winning American poet, translator, essayist, civil rights activist, orator, and teacher, including serving as professor and director of the creative writing program at New York University.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Kinnell served in the Navy during World War II. He graduated from Princeton University in 1948 (his roommate was the poet W. S. Merwin), and received a master's degree from the University of Rochester a year later. He held several teaching positions early on both in the United States and abroad, including a tour in Tehran that led to the writing of his only novel, "Black Light." His "Selected Poems" won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1983, and a share of the National Book Award the same year.

In 1965, Kinnell married Spanish translator Ines Delgado de Torres with whom he had two children. The couple divorced after 20 years. In 1997, Kinnell married Barbara Kammer Bristol.

Kinnell became close friends with English artist Anne Buchanan Crosby (1929-) after meeting her in Paris in the late 1950s.

This collection consists of letters from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning American poet Galway Kinnell (1927-2014) to English artist Anne Buchanan Crosby (b.1929). Kinnell and Crosby met in Paris in the late 1950s and maintained a strong connection spanning several decades. Part travelogue, Kinnell's letters touch on themes that are reflected in his work and document in detail the varied landscapes surrounding the poet as he travelled the world, including New York City, the artists' community, Yaddo, in Saratoga Springs, and New England. Several letters are postmarked from the South and Mississippi, where he spent time during the Civil Rights Movement, as well as countries throughout Europe and Asia. Over a dozen capture his time in Tehran. Some of the letters include photographs.

Also included in the collection are several annotated poetry typescripts and manuscripts authored by Kinnell dating from the late 1950s to early 1960s.