New essays providing fresh insights into the great 20th-century American
poet Lowell, his writings, and his struggles.
Robert Lowell (1917-1977) holds a place of unchallenged prominence in
the poetic pantheon of the twentieth-century United States. He is an
essential focal point for understanding the connection between poetry
and American history, social justice, and personal identity. A recent
spate of publications both by and about him, as well as allusions to him
in the work of major American poets such as Wanda Coleman and Claudia
Rankine, attest to his continued relevance.
In March 2017, leading Lowell scholars from Europe and America gathered
at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland in commemoration of his 100th
birthday. The essays deriving from the conference and presented here
aftercareful revision reveal new aspects of Lowell: for instance, the
poet's influence on his peers, discussed by Thomas Travisano, the
biographer of Elizabeth Bishop; or echoes of Milton in Lowell's work,
discussed by Saskia Hamilton, editor of the forthcoming Dolphin Letters
between Lowell and Elizabeth Hardwick. Other essays examine Lowell's
struggles with bipolar illness, with marriage, and with money; his
economic views and his early personality issues with respect to his
poetic production; his extended sojourn in Amsterdam; and his special
relationship with Ireland. Several essays focus on his 1961 volume
Imitations, his major poetic engagement with the European tradition,
unjustly neglected in the US. The essays will appeal to the wide
audience that Lowell scholarship continues to command.
Contributors: Steven Gould Axelrod, Massimo Bacigalupo, Philip Coleman,
Ian D. Copestake, Astrid Franke, Jo Gill, Saskia Hamilton, Frank J.
Kearful, Grzegorz Kosc, Diederik Oostdijk, Francesco Rognoni, Thomas
Travisano, Boris Vejdovsky.
Thomas Austenfeld is Professor of American Literature at the University
of Fribourg.
