Correspondence with American poet John Peck. Some of this relates to Carcanet's publication of Peck's collection The broken blockhouse wall (1979), first published in America by Godine, including references to: plans for taking the book over from Godine; Peck's concern about a misprint in one of the syllabic poems; advance copies and reviews (/3-4 are photocopied reviews of the American edition of the book). There are also references to the anthology, Five American poets, published by Carcanet in 1979, including: reservations felt by Peck and some of the other poets included in the volume about Schmidt's Preface in its first draft; advance copies; and reviews. Other topics include: Schmidt's admiration of the work of Peck, [Robert] Pinsky and [Robert] Hass; Peck's orders for various Carcanet books, including volumes by Montale, Edgell Rickword, and C.H. Sisson's Dante translations; the revival of American poetry magazine Occident; Schmidt's thoughts on [Yvor] Winters; Schmidt's hopes that Peck will write for PN Review; and the poet Roy Fisher, who has left the Carcanet list.
/16 includes a typescript poem by Peck called 'Viaticum', and /19 is a corrected proof of Peck's poem from 'Graduals' [published in PN Review 16].
Dated at: Rome, Italy; and South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA.
Holograph and typescript.