William Carlos Williams and Charles Tomlinson: A Transatlantic Connection

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. William Carlos Williams spent most of his life in northern New Jersey, where he was a full-time doctor as well as a prolific writer. His poetry and prose present local American experience in a distinctively American idiom. He also traveled and published abroad, and became a pioneer of the international modernist movement. Williams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1963. Charles Tomlinson was born and raised in Staffordshire and now lives in Gloucestershire. His work shows him to be not only an astute observer of English places and occasions but also a keen student of other cultures, languages, and sensibilities. Today he is widely recognized as one of Britain’s most distinguished poets and translators. He is also an accomplished graphic artist.