This edition of E.J. Pratt’s letters is the final volume in the Collected Works series. Because of Pratt’s role in the making of Canadian culture between and after the World Wars, his correspondence highlights key moments in our cultural history and provides a view of the enterprise from its very centre.

The letters take us into his "workshop," illuminating the research behind his distinctive documentary long poems and the social nature of his creative production. They also reveal the complex network of writers, critics, artists and political figures of which Pratt was a part, the evolution of the Canadian book trade from the 1920s through to the early 1960s, and the emergence of radio (and specifically, of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) as a tool for forging national identity. Pratt's correspondence both confirms the public persona of one of Canada’s first literary celebrities and provides glimpses of the private character behind the mask.

Elizabeth Popham is an associate professor in the Department of English Literature at Trent University.

Elizabeth A. Popham's profile page

David G. Pitt is emeritus professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

David G. Pitt's profile page

E.J. Pratt Library's profile page

"Elizabeth Popham and David G. Pitt provide an invaluable resource to scholars of Canadian modernist poetry with E.J. Pratt: Letters, the last instalment of the Collected Works series… the collection that the editors present is vast – and wholly indispensable for scholars in the field and those with an interest in Pratt’s poetry … Popham and Pitt’s detailed effort is undeniable, serving any interest reader beyond expectation … This resource is one for the shelves of any researcher in the field, and will no doubt be cited regularly. "

Canadian Literature Reviews, 234 Autumn 2017