Dk / Some Letters of Ezra Pound

by Louis Dudek, Louis Dudek (Editor)

From the early 1950s through 1968, poet and pre-eminent man of letters, Louis Dudek, maintained a lengthy, varied, and always stimulating correspondence with that irascible genius, Ezra Pound. Here, reproduced in all their remarkable idiosyncracy, are Pound's letters to his Canadian friend, introduced, transcribed, and fully annotated by Dudek himself.

172 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Louis Dudek was one of Canada’s most important and influential cultural workers. After gaining his PhD from Columbia University, Dudek in 1951 returned from New York to Montreal, the city of his birth, to take up a position as professor of English at McGill. Dudek’s return to Canada marked the beginning of his efforts to revolutionize the Montreal poetry scene through little magazines and small-press publishing, providing alternatives to commercial presses and opportunities for talented young poets. In 1956 he started The McGill Poetry Series, which gave a start to several young poets, including Leonard Cohen. The author of numerous books of poetry, Louis Dudek died in 2001.

Reviews

[Wilfredo R. Dotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is basically a compilation of the letters written by the American poet Ezra Pound to his friend, the Canadian poet Louis Dudek. These letters were part of a correspondence maintained by both, in which it is possible to notice an interesting and intellectualy stimulating exchange of ideas and points of view, since both were great exponents of poetry in their respective countries.

It was an interesting reading.

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a relatively short but superb collection of letters from Ezra Pound to Canadian poet and artist Louis Dudek.
There are many great things about this book:
1) The letters from Pound are usually Xeroxed copies of his actual typed or handwritten letters, which gives you a better feel for his 'hickory-flavored' eccentricity.
2) It shows you how brittle AND brilliant his mind was while incarcerated at St. Elizabeths.
3) It discusses the well-known elephant in the room in Pound studies - his anti-semitism (more on that below).
4) There is a transcript of a radio interview which includes the best 11-page summary I have ever read of Pound's career as a poet and writer and his intentions as a writer. Even Pound, who read it, thought it was possibly the best summary of his career and poetic intentions. Therefore, this book is an EXCELLENT place to start if you are new to Pound.

If you start with the Cantos, like I did, you will get lost and frustrated quickly. It's impossible to gain an easy foothold into that difficult but beautiful (once penetrated) work. The key that unlocks the wonders of Pound's writing is, as Dudek rightly points out, through his letters and prose. In fact, I would go so far as to say I enjoy Pound's prose MORE than his poetry because it's much more accessible, witty, thought-provoking, occasionally outrageous but never ever boring.

I really wanted to give this excellent book 5 stars but just two things bugged me about it.

1) Dudek seems to let Pound off the hook too much regarding the anti-semitism. Although I don't like how the 'cancel culture' uses it to just try and whitewash or step over Pound's extremely important oeuvre, at the same time, his anti-semitism NEEDS to be seriously discussed and addressed. Leon Surette's excellent book on this, called Pound in Purgatory (one of the BEST books I've read on Pound so far), gives a very thorough survey and account of his slow descent into anti-semitism and conspiracy theory. Dudek claims that there is no hard evidence of his anti-semitism but as Surette points out with specific letters, it's definitely there. Was Pound always an anti-semite? No. Did he regret his anti-semitism later on? Yes. He in fact apologized to Ginsberg about it. Pound certainly had his flaws, like any of us do. BUT, his poetry will live on - and that's something Dudek and I are in agreement about.
2) I did not like his views on homosexuality - describing it as "sexual deviation". I guess that was how many people thought of it back in the 1950s but this was published in 1974, so to me, it seemed like a very warped and old-fashioned way of looking at it. (He briefly talks, at the end, about how so-called "sexual deviation" (i.e. homosexuality) is something the lit critics didn't address directly when they read Whitman, Crane, Eliot and others.

These 2 gripes aside, this is an EXCELLENT book with some really stimulating letters by Pound and commentary / memoirs from Dudek. Highly recommended, especially if you are thinking of putting your feet into the Poundian waters.

[Liisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating! A collection of the letters exchanged by Montreal poet and academic Louis Dudek and Pound, during the years of Pound's imprisonment at St. Elizabeth's Hospital and after his release and return to Italy. Dudek and other poets, including Robert Frost, were instrumental in appealing for his release, though Pound fell out with him for a time afterwards. The manuscripts are reproduced, with transcriptions and explanations/ contexts provided by Dudek. Pound's southern voice can be heard in his quirky expressions and spelling. They often serve to take the heavy and heady topics of conversation down a notch or two.
"fer poisnl perusal and nJoymint of ... this doggymint"
"bolidigal azbrazhuns"
"port of nooYukk"
"mrkuns (Americans)"
"frogkademy (Academie Francaise)