Letters of Samuel Beckett

FAIN: RQ-50332-08

Emory University (Atlanta, GA 30322-1018)
Lois More Overbeck (Project Director: November 2007 to July 2013)

Preparation and final editing of Volumes II and III of a four-volume edition of selected letters of Samuel Beckett. (36 months)

This is the first comprehensive collection and contextual presentation of the letters of Irish-born writer and world-playwright Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) whose work is held in the highest esteem by a large, diverse, and international audience. Pivotal for scholarship in the humanities, The Letters of Samuel Beckett will enrich all readers with fresh perspective on twentieth-century culture. This NEH proposal seeks support for the editing of Volume II and Volume III of the four volume edition being published by Cambridge University Press.

Media Coverage

Man of Words (Review)
Author(s): Unsigned
Publication: The Economist
Date: 9/24/2011
Abstract: Book review of Volume II of the Letters of Samuel Beckett.
URL: http://www.economist.com/node/21530066

Endgames, fresh starts (Review)
Author(s): Patricia Craig
Publication: The Independent
Date: 10/21/2011
Abstract: Book review of The Letters of Samuel Beckett 1941-1956, Edited by George Craig, Martha Dow Fehsenfeld, Dan Gunn and Lois More Overbeck
URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-letters-of-samuel-beckett-19411956-edited-by-george-craig-martha-dow-fehsenfeld-dan-gunn-and-lois-more-overbeck-2373427.html?origin=internalSearch

Beckett after the hostilities (Review)
Author(s): Nicholas Grene
Publication: The Irish Times
Date: 9/24/2011
Abstract: Book review of the Letters of Samuel Beckett, Volume II.
URL: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0924/1224304647368.html

The Waiting is Over (Review)
Author(s): Eithne Shortall
Publication: The Sunday Times
Date: 10/2/2011
Abstract: Book review, Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume II*
URL: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/

Work, work, work (Review)
Author(s): Edmund Gordon
Publication: The Sunday Times
Date: 10/9/2011
Abstract: Book review, Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume II
URL: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/

The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Volume 1: 1929-1940 edited by Martha Dow Fehsenfeld and Lois More Overbeck (Review)
Author(s): Michael Horovitz
Publication: The Sunday Times
Date: 4/17/2009
Abstract: Book review of The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Vol I.
URL: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/

Samuel Beckett’s Midgame (Review)
Author(s): Denis Donoghue
Publication: New York Times
Date: 10/28/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/books/review/samuel-becketts-midgame.html?_r=1

Book review: The Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume II: 1941-1956 (Review)
Author(s): David Sexton
Publication: The Scotsman
Date: 10/28/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/books/book_review_the_letters_of_samuel_beckett_volume_ii_1941_1956_1_1936576

The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume II, 1941-56, edited by George Craig, Martha Dow Fehsenfeld, Dan Gunn and Lois More Overbeck (Review)
Author(s): Ferdinand Mount
Publication: The Spectator
Date: 10/29/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/7341988/the-letters-of-samuel-beckett-volume-ii-194156-edited-by-george-craig-martha-dow-fehsenfeld-dan-gunn-and-lois-more-overbeck.thtml

(Review)
Author(s): Glyn Vincent
Publication: Huffington Post
Date: 11/1/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glyn-vincent/whats-so-secret-about-sam_b_1037913.html?ref=books

How I dislike that play now... (Review)
Author(s): Alan Jenkins
Publication: Times Literary Supplement
Date: 11/2/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article812332.ece

The Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume II - review (Review)
Author(s): David Sexton
Publication: The LondonEvening Standard
Date: 9/29/2011
Abstract: Book review of the Letters of Samuel Beckett Vol II
URL: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/book/article-23992343-the-letters-of-samuel-beckett-volume-ii---review.do

The Beckett We Never Knew (Review)
Author(s): Paul Drury
Publication: The Irish Daily Mail
Date: 10/3/2011
Abstract: Book review of Letters of Samuel Beckett Vol II
URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html

Insight into Beckett's Creative Soul (Review)
Author(s): Kevin Power
Date: 10/2/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.businesspost.ie/#!article/9cb70a08-30c6-4b77-ac74-cec5088c3f0e

The Letters of Samuel Beckett (Review)
Author(s): Michael Dirda
Publication: Washington Post
Date: 10/7/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-letters-of-samuel-beckett-reviewed-by-michael-dirda/2011/10/07/gIQAKwq2fL_story.html

Beckett, un duro molto sentimentale (Review)
Author(s): Aridea Fezzi Price
Publication: Il Giornale
Date: 10/25/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.ilgiornale.it/cultura/beckett_duro_molto_sentimentale/20-10-2011/articolo-id=552606-page=0-comments=1

Samuel Beckett's Letters Reveal Roots of Resistance (Review)
Author(s): Benjamin Ivry
Publication: The Jewish Daily Forward
Date: 10/27/2011
Abstract: Book review
URL: http://www.forward.com/articles/144905/

Associated Products

The Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume II: 1941-1956 (Book)
Title: The Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume II: 1941-1956
Author: Samuel Beckett
Editor: Lois More Overbeck
Editor: George Craig
Editor: Martha Dow Fehsenfeld
Editor: Dan Gunn
Abstract: This second volume of The Letters of Samuel Beckett opens with the war years, when it was often impossible or too dangerous to correspond. The surge of letters beginning in 1945, and their variety, are matched by the outpouring and the range of Beckett's published work. Primarily written in French and later translated by the author, the work includes stories, a series of novels (Molloy, Malone meurt and L'Innommable), essays and plays – most notably En attendant Godot. The letters chronicle a passionately committed but little known writer evolving into a figure of international reputation, and his response to such fame. The volume provides detailed introductions which discuss Beckett's situation during the war and his crucial move into the French language, as well as translations of the letters, explanatory notes, year-by-year chronologies, profiles of correspondents and other contextual information.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/the-letters-of-samuel-beckett-volume-ii-1941-1956-edited-by-george-craig-martha-dow-fehsenfeld-dan-gunn-and-lois-more-overbeck/oclc/761241700&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item6218770/?site_locale=en_GB
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780521867948
Translator: George Craig

Prizes

Book of the Year
Date: 11/1/2011
Organization: Times Literary Supplement
Abstract: The volume has been named book of the year by ray Foster, Paul griffith, Gabriel Josipovici, and Marjorie Perloff.

The Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume 1: 1929-1940 (Book)
Title: The Letters of Samuel Beckett Volume 1: 1929-1940
Author: Samuel Beckett
Editor: George Craig
Editor: Martha Dow Fehsenfeld
Editor: Lois More Overbeck
Editor: Dan Gunn
Abstract: The letters written by Samuel Beckett between 1929 and 1940 provide a vivid and personal view of Western Europe in the 1930s, and mark the gradual emergence of Beckett's unique voice and sensibility. The Cambridge University Press edition of The Letters of Samuel Beckett offers for the first time a comprehensive range of letters of one of the greatest literary figures of the twentieth century. Selected for their bearing on his work from over 15,000 extant letters, the letters published in this four-volume edition encompass sixty years of Beckett's writing life (1929–1989), and include letters to friends, painters and musicians, as well as to students, publishers, translators, and colleagues in the world of literature and theatre. For anyone interested in twentieth-century literature and theatre this edition is essential reading, offering not only a record of Beckett's achievements but a powerful literary experience in itself.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/letters-of-samuel-beckett/oclc/231581070&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1174020/?site_locale=en_GB
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780521867931

Prizes

Outstanding Academic Title
Date: 12/1/2009
Organization: Choice Reviews
Abstract: Every year in the January issue, Choice publishes a list of Outstanding Academic Titles that were reviewed during the previous calendar year. This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by Choice and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community.

Morton N. Cohen Award for a Distinguished Edition of Letters
Date: 1/1/2012
Organization: Modern Language Association
Abstract: The Morton N. Cohen Award, under the auspices of the Committee on Honors and Awards, is presented biennially, in odd-numbered years. The winners of the first Cohen Award, presented in 1991, were Frederick Burkhardt and Sydney Smith. The Letters of samuel beckett Volume 1 received the 2009-2010 award.

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