The Delicacy and Strength of Lace: Letters Between Leslie Marmon Silko & James Wright

By Joy Harjo, Leslie Marmon Silko, James Wright

Book Overview

The Delicacy and Strength of Lace

The timeless exchange of advice and friendship between two of our greatest literary talents

Dear Leslie: Of course I can't know whether or not the world looks strange to God. But sometimes it looks strange to me.

Leslie Marmon Silko and James Wright met only twice. First, briefly, in 1975, at a writers' conference in Michigan. Their correspondence began three years later, after Wright wrote to Silko praising her book Ceremony. The letters began formally, and then each writer gradually opened to the other, sharing his or her life, work, and struggles. The second meeting between the two writers came in a hospital room, as Wright lay dying of cancer.

The New York Times wrote something of Wright that applies to both writers--of qualities that this exchange of letters makes evident: "Our age desperately needs his vision of brotherly love, his transcendent sense of nature, the clarity of his courageous voice."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1555975437
• ISBN13: 9781555975432
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Graywolf Press
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A moving, personal exchange of letters

_The Delicacy and Strength of Lace_ is an incredibly moving exchange between two great American poets who only met briefly on two occasions: Wright heard Silko read from her work which initiated the correspondence; Silko visited Wright on his deathbed. In between they exchanged letters about their everyday existences, everything from Silko's rooster to the nature of another animal, the human animal. Wright's inititial letter told Silko of his high regard for her book, _Ceremony_ and it's importance and stature in American literature. The letters quickly take on the knowing, personal feel of two people who have known each other for years. The reader is drawn into their lives and, especially, their visions. I recently re-read the book, and once again found myself examining along with the writers the very heart and nature of our existence in this vale of tears. Fans of the poetry of either will find this exchange especially enlightening, but I came to it unfamiiliar with either and found its simplicity and yet its warmth and vision compelling. I often give it as a gift. My copy has been around the world. This is a book to read, relish and re-read. Most readers will probably move next to the works of these two wonderfully compassionate soulmates. Many of Silko's poems appear in the letters.