This series of correspondence predominantly dates from early 1979 to June 1980, although some material pre-dates this period, reflecting Michael Schmidt's practice of retaining certain files in the Carcanet office longer than others for administrative or other purposes. As usual, Schmidt is the principal correspondent on Carcanet's side, although there is a small amount of correspondence carried out by other personnel including Peter Jones, Helen Lefroy, and Claire Harman, who joined the press as an editor during this period.
All the activities of Carcanet Press and PN Review during this period are reflected in the correspondence, which includes letters from Carcanet authors and editors, critics, and other individuals with a connection to the Press or to literature more generally. Numerous established Carcanet writers are represented in the correspondence, as well as relatively new additions to the list, including young poets like Paul Wilkins, whose first collection, Pasts, was published by Carcanet in 1979, but also older poets who switched their allegiances. John Heath-Stubbs, for example, moved from Oxford University Press to Carcanet during this period. Schmidt was keen to publish all of Heath-Stubbs's future work including prose writing, thus reflecting his policy of taking on the entire oeuvre of authors he valued. He was committed to promoting the work of older or unjustly neglected writers he admired; others represented in the correspondence include Laura (Riding) Jackson, Adrian Stokes, David Gascoyne and Elizabeth Daryush - who left copyright in all her literary work to Carcanet when she died in 1977. American poets also continue to be well represented in this correspondence, which documents not only the publication of the Five American poets anthology in 1979, but also Carcanet's British publication of collections by poets represented in this anthology, including Robert Pinsky's An explanation of America and John Peck's The broken blockhouse wall, both published in 1979. The 'Miscellaneous' correspondence files as usual contain some correspondence with significant literary figures who did not have any direct connection with the Press, including Dannie Abse, Al Alvarez, A.S. Byatt, D.J. Enright, William Empson, Terry Eagleton and Iris Murdoch. The presence of Alison Brackenbury provides an example of how these miscellaneous files can chart the rising fortunes of Carcanet authors: her correspondence in the 'B Miscellaneous' file marks her first contact with Carcanet Press, when she submitted poems to PN Review; Schmidt immediately recognized her potential and Brackenbury went on to become a long-term Carcanet author. Some writers also moved on during this period: Roy Fisher's correspondence, for example, relates to his decision to move from Carcanet to Oxford University Press.
As in earlier series, many of these files contain literary manuscripts as well as correspondence. Keith Chandler and Cliff Ashby, for instance, were in the habit of submitting large numbers of poems over time, often with letters, from which Schmidt would select those pieces he considered publishable. This was also Elizabeth Jennings's long-established method of submitting material, and Schmidt's commitment to her work during this period remained as strong as ever; in 1979, he notes that he has been involved in campaigning for Jennings to receive the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
The correspondence also documents Schmidt's plans to expand and diversify the Carcanet list during 1979-1980. He hoped to establish a small fiction list, and was exploring the possibility of moving into the fields of music and drama. He was also keen to publish the work of original young critics, such as Richard Swigg, and expressed interest in the work of right-wing sociologist David Levy whose first book, Realism, was published by Carcanet in 1981. In correspondence with publishers Peter and Stephen du Sautoy, Schmidt outlined his ideas for expansion and independence for the Press, which he hoped could be liberated from its reliance on Arts Council funding. The year 1980, however, saw Carcanet hit a financial crisis, which meant that plans for expansion into other areas were shelved for a time; much of the correspondence in this series refers to the Press's uncertain finances. Already in January 1980, authors were being contacted about the remaindering of their titles because the Press was unable to meet increased warehouse charges. Tax problems also arose when the authorities began to reclaim tax at corporation level on Arts Council grants received by the Carcanet during 1970-1974. These problems were exacerbated by the failure of the Arts Council to provide formal notification of the Press's grant for the year 1980-1981, despite having informed Schmidt unofficially that his application had been successful. In addition, Carcanet's American distributors, Harper and Row and their successors, Persea, were overdue in paying debts owed to the Manchester office. As a result Schmidt was forced to approach Carcanet writers and supporters for loans; these individuals included Ted Hughes, Edwin Morgan, Donald Davie, David Arkell and others represented in this series of correspondence.
PN Review is a another frequently occurring topic throughout the correspondence. Schmidt refers to differences of opinion and tensions over editorial policy between himself and Donald Davie during this period; Davie's correspondence file in particular contains extended discussion of the magazine and its philosophy (see CPA/2/3/35). PN Review moved from quarterly to bi-monthly publication during 1979, and Schmidt also attempted to lighten the magazine during this period by introducing a 'News and Notes' section, on which he received advice from David Arkell; he also hoped to introduce a new series of essays by living poets on poets of the past who had been of particular importance to them, with the aim of illuminating English cultural continuities; Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin and Geoffrey Hill were three of the poets approached. Dissenting voices in the correspondence offer alternative perspectives on the magazine; Donald Hall, for instance, criticized the absence of English women poets from the magazine, to which Schmidt responded with a defence of his editorial policy. Probably the most significant topic in relation to PN Review during this period, however, was issue 13 of the magazine, Crisis for Cranmer and King James, guest-edited by David Martin, which was the first entire issue to be devoted to one special theme. PN Review had always aimed to consider poetry in its wider social and cultural context, and this issue contained essays, poems, testimonials and petitions about the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible, which it was felt were being relegated to the cupboard by the Church of England without debate and without a true sense of the consequences to the language, the faith or the general culture of the land which such a relegation entailed. 1 The magazine and the petitions collected by David Martin from writers, politicians and musicians, provoked widespread debate, and enthusiastic support for the campaign was forthcoming from Christians and non-Christians alike.
Other recurring topics which feature in this series of correspondence include: the response of numerous correspondents to Schmidt's novel The colonist which was published in 1980; his book, An introduction to fifty modern British poets, published as part of the Pan Literary Guides series in 1979; plans for a radio programme to be established by Schmidt and Fraser Steel, Poetry Editor at the BBC, called 'The Republic of Letters', involving visits to other European countries and Latin America; Schmidt's enduring enthusiasm for and championing of C.H. Sisson's work, including discussion of Edna Longley's highly critical review of Sisson's Exactions (1980) in Quarto magazine. Reference is also made by many correspondents to Schmidt's marriage in 1979 and to the birth of his first son Charles in March 1980.
1. Michael Schmidt, introduction to PN Review tenth year index (Manchester: Poetry Nation Review, 1982), p. 4.