{"product_id":"letters-of-a-poet-dying-the-selected-correspondence-of-frank-stanford-paperback","title":"Letters of a Poet Dying: The Selected Correspondence of Frank Stanford - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eFrank Stanford\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLetters of a Poet Dying\u003c\/i\u003e is a watershed publication-the first collection of correspondence by the virtuosic poet Frank Stanford (1948-78). Born in southeast Mississippi, Stanford lived most of his brief life in northern Arkansas, where he studied, loved, founded a publishing company, and wrote prolifically before ending his life at the age of twenty-nine. These strikingly original letters, postcards, and book inscriptions written in Stanford's twenties to several dozen recipients-poets, editors, friends, lovers, and family members-illuminate his complicated and often tumultuous creative process.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnhanced by A. P. Walton's painstaking scholarship, Stanford's correspondence reveals a poet intent on crafting and shaping his oeuvre as he approached the death he long anticipated. \"I have never feared Death,\" he wrote in 1972. For him, \"Death was always there, a pale master holding the reins of my horse.\" Yet these letters are much more than a contemplation of the poet's own mortality-they demonstrate a lust for life and contain untold moments of beauty, providing intimate, moving glimpses into Stanford's creativity, aesthetic beliefs, friendships, romances, and fears.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThat these letters have survived obscurity for the many decades since the poet's death is a small miracle. Stanford's letters offer a clear window into the genius of one of the most gifted and prodigious poets of the twentieth century and stand in their own right as significant works of literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Stanford is the best poet of his generation. Period.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--John McKernan\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Receiving a letter from Frank was like an epiphany--something raw and real you could take to heart. Frank brought reality to dreams.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Irv Broughton\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Frank's letters arrived in my mailbox like a bolt of lightning. As a young poetry editor in Columbia, Missouri in the early 1970s, his letters both excited and terrified me, as if at any moment he might show up on my doorstep.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Eleanor Bender\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The experience of reading Stanford's poetry manuscripts was one of awe. How would it be possible for a person so young to have written something that revelatory about life? It was as if he had already lived a life entire.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--William L. Fox\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Following a 1971 romance that ended with me leaving town, two charged love letters from Frank arrived in New York in summer 1972 like a bombshell to my existence. Fervid letters over the months to follow continued to melt my frozen heart.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Cheryl Campbell \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"When I received the letters and postcards from Frank in 1972, I read them as one best friend to another. Frank was in a fragile state of mind, and I was deeply troubled.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Bill Willett \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Frank's spark shone from his eyes, and his wide smile immediately drew me to his immensely likable personality. His voice had a mellifluously warm Southern cadence that oozed with literacy, and there is nothing like hearing poetry voiced with such a lilt.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--James Babij\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Before he left New Orleans on June 3rd, Frank scribbled a note telling me to keep my eye on the moon, my poetry. I have felt both honored and challenged by his words ever since.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Ralph Adamo\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe creative flame of poet \u003cb\u003eFrank Stanford \u003c\/b\u003eburned early and brightly. He published numerous books, including the 15,434-line epic \u003ci\u003eThe Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You\u003c\/i\u003e--his posthumous magnum opus and one of the longest poems in American literature. Though Stanford died nearly a half century ago, there is more interest in his life and work today than ever before. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA. P. Walton\u003c\/b\u003e, a poet, studied literature at Lund University, where he authored a seminal thesis on Frank Stanford. He is also coeditor of the scholarly edition of Stanford's \u003ci\u003eThe Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 406\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.06 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 11, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51409411211487,"sku":"9781682262962","price":34.51,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/FzqYrRAijI9781682262962.webp?v=1789617549","url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/products\/letters-of-a-poet-dying-the-selected-correspondence-of-frank-stanford-paperback","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}