| Abstract: |
Poet and biographer John Malcolm Brinnin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on
September 13, 1916. Brinnin, who was also a critic, anthologist, and teacher, taught at
Vassar, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, and Harvard. Brinnin was the first
person to bring Welsh poet Dylan Thomas to the United States and was responsible for all of
Dylan Thomas's reading tours in this country. John Malcolm Brinnin Letters to John Matthew
O’Shea consists of fifty-four letters written by Brinnin, between 1977 and 1991, to his friend
John O’Shea, who was a companion to Truman Capote during the 1970s. When the first letters
available in this collection were written, Brinnin was coping with the illness of his
long-time friend Bill Read, who died in June 19, 1978. In his letters Brinnin reflected on his
situation and inquired about O’Shea’s life with his friend Truman Capote.This collection
complements thirteen letters written by John O’Shea to Brinnin, which are available in the
John Malcolm Brinnin Papers (Ms 103).
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