The years 1969 and 1979 bookend a volatile decade in American history. As an articulate witness to the era of the Vietnam War, Watergate, Jimmy Carter, and the national "malaise," Robert Penn Warren produced a phenomenal body of work, securing his place in the canon of American poetry.
Volume five of Selected Letters of Robert Penn Warren: Backward Glances and New Visions, 1969—1979 includes Warren's letters to friends, family, peers, editors, inquiring scholars, and critics — recording the details of his personal and professional life and illustrating his pivotal role in twentieth-century American literature.
In these turbulent but fruitful years, Warren produced both Audubon: A Vision (1969) and the revised version of Brother to Dragons (1979). In between lay some of Warren's most searching work as poet, novelist, literary critic, and social commentator.
During this era Warren's achievements included his highly experimental and complex Or Else — Poem/Poems (1974) and the Pulitzer Prize—winning Now and Then (1978). Before the end of the 1970s three more novels appeared concluding with his final book of fiction, A Place to Come To.
This volume provides insight into Warren's inspiration during a remarkably productive era and will prove an essential resource on his life and work.