Category Archives: Letters / Correspondence

When Frank (O’Hara) Met Marlene (Dietrich)

Posted on October 19, 2019 by Andrew Epstein

                          As everyone knows, Frank O’Hara was an unabashed, passionate fan of the movies — and of movie stars.  He stanned James Dean and Greta Garbo and Lana … Continue reading →

Posted in Edward Gorey, Edwin Denby, Film, Frank O'Hara, Larry Rivers, Letters / Correspondence | Leave a comment

Frank O’Hara, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and the Evolution of Lunch Poems

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Andrew Epstein

w There’s been a lot of welcome attention lately to the 50th anniversary of Frank O’Hara’s 1964 book Lunch Poems, including a star-studded group reading of the book at the Poetry Project the other night.  As I mentioned before, City Lights … Continue reading →

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Beats, Frank O'Hara, Joe LeSueur, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Letters / Correspondence, Vincent Warren | Leave a comment

“To ashbery,” “to kenneth,” and “to brainard”: Poets’ Names as Verbs

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Andrew Epstein

If you could turn the names of your friends, or your favorite poets, into verbs, what actions would they signify?  What would it mean, for instance, “to keats,” “to plath,” or “to ashbery”? In a playful 1969 letter to Bill Berkson, James Schuyler … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Berkson, James Schuyler, Joe Brainard, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Kenward Elmslie, Letters / Correspondence | 1 Comment

POET BURNS 200 NEXT SUNDAY: Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, and Robert Burns

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Andrew Epstein

In honor of Robert Burns Night — the celebration for the Scottish poet that is commemorated annually on the poet’s birthday, January 25 — here’s an amusing snippet from a letter Kenneth Koch sent to John Ashbery on January 27, … Continue reading →

Posted in John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Letters / Correspondence | Leave a comment

James Schuyler to Frank O’Hara, 60 years ago today (at the American Reader)

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Andrew Epstein

To mark this “day in lettres,” the American Reader has posted a characteristically witty and warm letter that James Schuyler sent to Frank O’Hara on January 15, 1954, taken from the wonderful little book The Letters of James Schuyler to Frank … Continue reading →

Posted in Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Letters / Correspondence | Leave a comment