Features - May 2014

Addressing one's peers

The letters of Charles Tomlinson and George Oppen, 1963–1981

Brook Cottage, the Tomlinson home in Gloucestershire (photograph by Richard Swigg).

George Oppen’s poetry first caught the eye of Charles Tomlinson when he singled out The Materials from a number of books that had been sent to him for review. It was a momentous discovery, leading to a prompt exchange of letters and their first meeting, followed by a steadily deepening friendship that lasted until Oppen’s death in 1984.