Carbons: A Career in Letters

By E. M. SCHORB

same as bio

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781467072878

E. M. SCHORB

E.M. Schorb began publishing in small literary magazines as an undergraduate at New York University.  His work has since appeared widely, here and abroad, in such publications as The Yale Review, The American Scholar, The Sewanee Review, The Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Notre Dame Review, The Carolina Quarterly, and The Chicago Review .  He has received Fellowships from The Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, The North Carolina Arts Council, and The Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation.  Murderer's Day, his third collection, was a recipient of the Verna Emery Poetry  Prize and published by Purdue University Press.  He now resides with his wife, Patricia, in North Carolina.

Book preview

Contents

TO THE READER

LIST OF LETTERS

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

I am always happy to drop everything—pretty nearly—when I make the acquaintance of a new poet as good as E.M. Schorb.

-James Dickey, poet, novelist

"The poems in Murderer’s Day shine calmly even as they buzz with energy; are connaisant with world and yet transcendent of it; make something deeply funny and yet highly sad—given a world and a time and a good mind’s eye. This is the work of a mature intelligence, its ironies unadulterated by cynicism, and its swells informed by understatement."

-Heather McHugh, poet, critic

"A crackling good story told in the compelling, precise prose of a poet. Imaginative. Evocative. Wander the streets of New York with Edgar Allan Poe, who, dear reader, must solve a murder to save a friend. The Frankfurt eBook Grand Prize in Fiction goes to E.M. Schorb for Paradise Square."

-Award Citation, Walter Anderson

Editor, Parade Magazine

"In Fortune Island, E.M. Schorb creates a world in which much happens—and all of it to the point."

-Fred Chappell, poet, novelist

"An intriguing novel of the psyche of one woman, Fortune Island is a riveting read that can’t be put down."

-Midwest Book Review

"A Portable Chaos has everything you want in good literature—poignant writing, drama, and redemption."

-Award Citation, Christopher Klim

Editor, Writers Notes Magazine

"To be a first-class poet requires a fluency of language, mastery of a vocabulary sufficient to express seminal, original thoughts set down with rhythm, with imagery, and with descriptive evocation that communicates flawlessly with the recipient of the poetry of verse. Such is the case with the collected poetry of E. M. Schorb as compiled within the pages of Time And Fevers: New And Selected Poems."

-Midwest Book Review

Paul T. Vogel

ALSO BY E.M. SCHORB

Words in Passing (Poetry)

Fortune Island (Novel)

Time and Fevers (Poetry)

A Portable Chaos (Novel)

Paradise Square (Novel)

Scenario for Scorsese (Novel)

A Fable and Other Prose Poems

Murderer’s Day (Poetry)

50 Poems

The Poor Boy and Other Poems

TO THE READER

There are probably many readers of voting age or younger who, due to the advent of the computer, may not know what a carbon copy is. A carbon copy is a copy made with carbon paper; hence, an exact duplicate, a replica. One loosely refers to such copies as carbons. Carbons are kept for the purpose of recording what was written for future reference. A writer, dealing with agents, publishers, editors, and others involved in the business of writing, will sometimes keep such a record. This book is a highly selected record of my involvement in writing. I hope it will prove of interest to other writers, and perhaps to the general reader who is curious about a career in letters.

For Patricia,

as always,

and

To New Writers of Any Age

LIST OF LETTERS

1960s

1     To Mary McGrath Schorb

1970s

2     To Alex Jackinson, Literary Agent

3     To Paul Fitzsimmons, Writer, Friend

4     To Paul Fitzsimmons, Writer, Friend

5     To Alex Jackinson, Literary Agent

6     To Alex Jackinson, Literary Agent

7     To Alex Jackinson, Literary Agent

8     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

9     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

10     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

11     To Ed (and Patricia) Hoch, Mystery Writer

12     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

13     To Baxter (and Corrine) Geeting, Writer, Critic, Educator

14     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

15     To John Burnett Payne, Poet

16     To Bruce Lader, Poet, Friend

17     To Bruce Lader, Poet, Friend

18     To Alex Jackinson, Literary Agent

19     To J. Mackie, Poet, Educator

20     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

21     To Bruce Lader, Poet, Friend

1980s

22     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

23     To Piri Thomas (and Betty Elder), Poet, Memoirist, Friend

24     To Susan Drury, Authors League Fund

25     To Christine Friedlander, PEN American Center

26     To Richard Curtis Associates

27     To Robert R. Walter, Editor, Roanoke Review

28     To Elbert Harkins, Friend

29     To James Dickey, Poet, Novelist

30     To Roland John, Editor, Outposts

31     To James Dickey, Poet, Novelist

32     To The Editors, The Formalist

33     To Indrek Tart, Poet, Physicist, Sociologist

1990s

34     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

35     To Rupert T. Barber, Dept. of Theatre, Davidson College

36     To Joseph Paresi, Editor, Poetry

37     To Luke Whisnant, Editor, Tar River Poetry

38     To George Core, Editor, The Sewanee Review

39     To Harry Smith, Editor, The Generalist Papers

40     To Menke Katz, Poet, Editor, Bitterroot

41     To Richard James, Editor, The Arts Journal

42     To Felix Stefanile, Poet, Editor, Sparrow

43     To Paul Love, Editor, Kavya Bharati

44     To The Director, Chicago Museum of Holography

45     To William Baer, Writer, Educator, Editor, The Formalist

46     To Indrek Tart, Poet, Physicist, Sociologist

47     To Ishmael Reed, Poet, Novelist, Essayist, Editor, Konch

48     To Indrek Tart, Poet, Physicist, Sociologist

49     To Sue Walker, Editor, Negative Capability

50     To Sandra Costich, Poetry Editor, The American Scholar

51     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

52     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

53     To David Wagoner, Poet, Editor, Poetry Northwest

54     To Marion K. Stocking, Editor, The Beloit Poetry Journal

55     To Paul Fitzsimmons, Writer, Friend

56     To Sandra Costich, Poetry Editor, The American Scholar

57     To Alex Jackinson, Literary Agent

58     To James Merrill, Poet

59     To Felix Stefanile, Poet, Editor, Sparrow

60     To Felix Stefanile, Poet, Editor, Sparrow

61     To Paul Fitzsimmons, Writer, Friend

62     To James Merrill, Poet

63     To Marilyn Hacker, Poet, Poetry Editor, The Kenyon Review

64     To Marvin Bell, Poet

65     To Mark L. Levinson, Editor, Voices Israel

66     To Paul Fitzsimmons, Writer, Friend

67     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

68     To Susan Sholley, Friend

69     To Felix Stefanile, Editor, Sparrow

70     To T. & R. Weiss, Editors, Quarterly Review of Literature

71     To Willard Spiegelman, Editor, Southwest Review

72     To Patricia Stockton Leddy, Editor, Santa Barbara Review

73     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

74     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

75     To Jean Poston, Grants Officer, North Carolina Arts Council

76     To Jack R. Perry, Fmr. U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria

77     To Michele Hudson, Student

78     To Susan Drury, Administrator, The Authors League Fund

79     To Margaret Hunt, Managing Editor, Purdue Univ. Press

80     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

81     To Harriet Kessler, Subject of Portrait by E.M. Schorb

82     To Heather McHugh, Poet

83     To Margaret Hunt, Managing Editor, Purdue Univ. Press

84     To Margaret Hunt, Managing Editor, Purdue Univ. Press

85     To Margaret Hunt, Managing Editor, Purdue Univ. Press

86     To Susan Drury, Administrator, The Authors League Fund

87     To Sandra Costich, Associate Editor, The American Scholar

88     To Heather McHugh, Poet

89     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

90     To Susan Sholley, Friend

91     To Sandra Costich, Associate Editor, The American Scholar

92     To Heather McHugh, Poet

93     To Carol Bernstein Ferry, Supporter

94     To Cornel Lengyel, Poet, Playwright, Publisher, Friend

95     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

96     To Felix Stefanile, Poet, Editor, Sparrow

97     To Nancy Love, Literary Agent

98     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

99     To The Editors, The Georgia Review

100     To Dannye Romine Powell, Poet, Writer

101     To P.B. Newman, Poet, Educator

102     To J. Gill Holland, Poet, Educator

103     To Anthony S. Abbott, Poet, Novelist, Educator

104     To Katherine Goodwin, Sandra Dijkstra Agency

105     To Edward P. Jones, Novelist, Short Story Writer

106     To William Trowbridge, Co-Editor, The Laurel Review

107     To George Core, Editor, The Sewanee Review

108     To P.B. Newman, Poet, Educator

109     To William Trowbridge, Co-Editor, The Laurel Review

110     To George Core, Editor, The Sewanee Review

111     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

112     To Gregory Orr, Poet, Editor, The Virginia Quarterly Review

113     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

114     To Philip Levine, Poet

115     To Gregory Orr, Poet, Editor, The Virginia Quarterly Review

116     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

117     To Dan Veach, Editor, The Atlanta Review

118     To Lawrence Hetrick, Editor, The Chattahoochee Review

119     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

120     To Gregory Orr, Poet, Editor, The Virginia Quarterly Review

121     To Sander Zulauf, Editor, Journal of New Jersey Poets

122     To     Tom Filer, Novelist, Screenwriter, Actor

123     To Marcia Buckingham, Editor, Denlinger’s Publishers, Ltd.

124     To Marcia Buckingham, Editor, Denlinger’s Publishers, Ltd.

2000s

125     To Marcia Buckingham, Editor, Denlinger’s Publishers, Ltd.

126     To Greg Andersen, Editor, Wisconsin Review

127     To Laura Farrell, Granddaughter, aged 14

128     To Serena Zilka-Wastman, Dir., International eBook Award Foundation

129     To Walter Anderson, Editor, Parade Magazine, CEO, Parade Publications

130     To Gregory Harris, Reviewer, BookPage.com

131     To Jack Scovil, Literary Agent

132     To Walter Anderson, Editor, Parade Magazine, CEO, Parade Publications

133     To Loren Logsdon, Editor, Eureka Literary Magazine

134     To Walter Anderson, Editor, Parade Magazine, CEO, Parade Publications

135     To P.B. Newman, Poet, Educator

136     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

137     To Christopher Klim, Novelist, Editor, Writers Notes Magazine

138     To Philip Levine, Poet

139     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

140     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

141     To Peter Viereck, Poet, Historian

142     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

143     To Norman Podhoretz, Author, Editor, Commentary

144     To William F. Buckley, Jr., Novelist, Founder, National Review

145     To Norman Podhoretz, Author, Editor, Commentary

146     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

147     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

148     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

149     To X.J. Kennedy, Poet, Writer, Editor

150     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

151     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

152     To Jonathan Williams, Poet, Founder, Jargon Press

153     To Paul Bone, Editor, Measure

154     To Diana Braunschweig, Dir., Ludwig Vogelstein Fdn.

155     To Raymond Hammond, Editor, New York Quarterly

156     To Sean Wallace, Editor, Prime Books

157     To Ludwig Datené, Painter, Photographer, Friend

158     To Joanna Miles, Actress

159     To Greg Lilly, Publisher, Cherokee McGhee

160     To Ed Bosch, Poet, Painter, Friend

161     To Lisa Klein, Editor, Cherokee McGhee

162     To Nicole Florence, Show Coordinator, F&W Publications

163     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

164     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

165     To Greg Lilly, Publisher, Cherokee McGhee

166     To X.J. Kennedy, Poet, Writer, Editor

167     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

168     To Norman Podhoretz, Editor, Commentary

169     To Leo Yankevich, Poet, Editor, The New Formalist

170     To X.J. Kennedy, Poet, Writer, Editor

171     To Pat Mullan, Novelist, Poet

172     To Fred Chappell, Poet, Novelist

173     To J. Mackie, Poet, Educator

1960s

[Undated]

1. To Mary McGrath Schorb

I got your thoughtful and self-deprecating letter yesterday morning and have thought about it ever since. I’ve switched from day work to a night shift, the idea being that I might be able to do some writing in the mornings when I’m still fresh, and maybe even look for a better and higher-paying job, and do some other things, get some reading done, etc., and so because of the change-over yesterday I wasn’t able to answer right away as I wanted, but here I am on the second morning of the new routine with plenty of time to do so, and having had the night to think on it, I have been able to formulate to some degree what I want to say in response.

First, I think of all the letters you have ever written me I treasure this the most. All my life I have wanted you to be proud of me and I read over the part in your letter where you tell me you are with such a feeling of joy and gratification as I cannot properly describe. For many years I have wanted you to recognize me for what I, perhaps mistakenly, imagine myself to be: a man in the process of becoming an artist, a man foolish or brave enough to gamble with his life against nearly impossible odds, a man compelled by his own nature to get something out of his deepest self and make some kind of sense of it. Perhaps everything I’ve done to date has been nothing but a series of false starts. I’m still young, but I’m not a boy anymore, yet this compulsion has not diminished, but increased. I know now that it is not something outside myself, some childish or romantic nonsense, nor is it in any way an avoidance of responsibility. My responsibilities weigh heavy upon me. No, this compulsion to write is what I am, who I am. Nor do I have the slightest hope of becoming rich and famous. If a seer were to tell me, Ed, you’ll spend your life writing very bad and silly tales that will never be read or published, and you’ll be forever forgotten at the end, I’d answer by saying that I could not write while he jabbered on that way. And the reason your letter means so much to me is that for the first time I think you understand me as a man and not just as a son. To be so understood by you is the greatest reward of my life and efforts to date. I know you and remember you telling me how much it meant to you to please your mother in some way. Then you must know how much it means to me, how vindicated I feel in my to date not very spectacular life. The greatest joy of my life would be for you to read something of mine in print.

Over the years we have occasionally had such foolish misunderstandings. We both have quick tempers, and we have said things to each other that we both know we never meant. But we know this about each other, too: that we love each other more deeply and tenderly than most observers could ever know.

Thank you for that kind and generous and encouraging letter; but it isn’t true that you’ve done nothing to help me. It’s the poetry that is held in you that I write with and if I can ever free it from myself and put it on paper, to my satisfaction, it will be a testament to you, too.

1970s

2. To Alex Jackinson

November 6, 1970

Paul Fitzsimmons encouraged me to contact you in the hope that you might be able to help me with the marketing of my novel, Walking the Edge. I should say now that Paul has not read the novel, so whatever confidence he may have in me as a writer must be attributed to a personal liking and to the fact that he read and seemed to like some of my verse. As it happened, Ed Bosch, a friend and neighbor of Paul’s in Ithaca, and an old friend of mine, came down to my place in Brooklyn last week on a surprise visit and brought with him a piece of paper with your name, address, and phone number on it. He said that Paul had given it to him to give to me, and that it was Paul’s wish that I contact you. I have not as yet had any subsequent communication with Paul about this. Of course, I have no reason to doubt that it actually is Paul’s wish that I contact you; I only want you to understand the situation. Letters out of nowhere can be confusing—perhaps irritating. In any case, I don’t wish to presume on anyone’s friendship in making this contact, nor do I wish it to be in any way burdensome to you. If, however, you think that you might be interested in hearing something of my work, I should be very glad to agree to whatever arrangement you think is suitable—a personal meeting, by phone, a correspondence, whatever.

So far, my work is of three types, or genres. I write poetry, short stories (although at least two of these pieces could be described as short novels) and a year ago I finished (that is to say wrote from beginning to end, but did not edit or polish) my first novel. My poems are in both formal (often rhymed) and free patterns. The earliest I have kept dates back over ten years, the latest was written as recently as this summer on our trip up-state, and is the free-est (I am attempting to develop long cadenced lines, to bring my verse into alignment, as it were, with my prose). None of my poetry has been published. The short stories and short novels are perhaps quality, by which I do not intend a value judgment but rather an indication of market type. It may be that certain of them tend, but only tend toward slick. The novel is my maturest effort. It is not slick, perhaps not even quality, unless, say, Henry Miller or Thomas Wolfe fall into that category by anyone’s definition. It is written in the first person in a very swingy, rather racy style. It is literate, I believe, but very free, direct. Of course it’s semiautobiographical, but it is in no way a journal, record of wandering This-Was-My-Life book. It is a formed, created novel, a story told in the interest of the reader, not the writer. Whether I fail or no, I am a conscious craftsman. Nor am I, I hope, vain or foolish enough to think that anyone would be interested in my life story just because it was mine. However, I have not led a dull or ordinary life, and I have used what I thought would be of interest to others. I used certain materials dating from my twenty-third to my twenty-eighth year, with some rearrangement, and a great deal of interweaving and heightening, although never any actual falsifying in terms of the spirit of the times, people, places, and events, because they seemed to form, almost without tampering, a perfect novel plot. I am always first of all interested in telling a good story. Whatever complaints those who have read the book (mostly writers and artists, but also some others) have had about it, all have agreed that it was a good story that quickly captured their interest and held it throughout (the book is a typescript in eight hundred pages—not, however, sprawling or loose—as I say, I am very conscious of form and tightness.) Thus a lady friend of ours, a teacher, stayed up all night to read it. She said that she could not put it down—which I understand is something that people are prone to say when they like a book. She came bleary-eyed to our door in the morning and sat talking about it over coffee for several hours. She said that it made her laugh and that it made her cry. She is twenty-six, has a Masters, and is unsentimental and highly critical. So the book would seem to suit the fancy of a hip young lady. I have also tried it out on (pardon the expression) non-hip types, who seem to get an equal pleasure from it. However, Grove Press returned