Sir Stephen Spender

"Berlin is a city forever in the process of becoming, never being, and so it lives more powerfully in the imagination." Rory Maclean, 'Berlin - Imagine a City'.Located at the epicentre of some of modern Europe's most significant and turbulent events, Berlin has long held a magnetic attraction for writers. From 19th century authors recording the city's dramatic transition from Prussian Hauptstadt to German capital after 1871 and the modernist intellectuals of the Weimar period, to the resistance writers brave enough to write during the dark years of the Nazi era and those who captured life on both sides of the divided city, a body of literature has emerged that reveals Berlin's ever-shifting identity. Since 1989, Berlin has yet again become a crucible of creativity, serving as both muse and sanctuary for a new generation of writers who regularly claim it as one of the most exciting cities in the world. This unique and engaging book functions as an introduction to some of the finest writing in and about the city, as well as a guide to some of its best sights and vibrant neighbourhoods. Spanning more than 200 years of local life and literature, it features German authors as diverse as E.T. A. Hoffmann, Joseph Roth, Jorg Fauser, and Christa Wolf, as well as a slew of famous international names such as Mark Twain, Philip Hensher and Chloe Aridjis.

Proclaimed "one of the great American writers of short fiction" by the New York Times Book Review, William Goyen (1915-1983) had a quintessentially American literary career, in which national recognition came only after years of struggle to find his authentic voice, his audience, and an artistic milieu in which to create. These letters, which span the years 1937 to 1983, offer a compelling testament to what it means to be a writer in America.A prolific correspondent, Goyen wrote regularly to friends, family, editors, and other writers. Among the letters selected here are those to such major literary figures as W. H. Auden, Archibald MacLeish, Joyce Carol Oates, William Inge, Elia Kazan, Elizabeth Spencer, and Katherine Anne Porter.These letters constitute a virtual autobiography, as well as a fascinating introduction to Goyen's work. They add an important chapter to the study of American and Texas literature of the twentieth century.