Add MS 88998/2/28

37 communications from Harry Guest (one of which, item 1 below, has been extracted and is Closed until 1 January 2027).

• (1). Tokyo, 1 February 1970. Typed aerogramme. With sympathy on the death of Harwood's father. 'You will (improbably enough) be in Denmark now [...] and soon spreading your wings for the USA.'
• (2). Tokyo, 13 June 1970. Typed aerogramme. Has received Harwood, Landscapes (Fulcrum, 1969): 'a perfect book, Lee, which I am humble before'. Guest is preparing (with wife Lynn) an anthology of modern Japanese poetry for Penguin, and preparing a 'simplified version' of Macbeth. A poem dedicated to Harwood to follow in his next letter.
• (3). Tokyo, 22 June 1970 (postmark). Typed poem 'Nocturnes for the Dead of Winter', dedicated to Harwood (5 sheets), with envelope. The final page of the poem includes an autograph message.
• (4). Tokyo, 11 September [1970]. Typed letter (3 sheets), with envelope. Refers to a Guardian article (Harwood), and to Penguin Modern Poets 16 (Jack Beeching, Harry Guest, Matthew Mead).
• (5). Tokyo, 21 May 1971 (postmark). Autograph aerogramme. The Sinking Colony (Fulcrum, 1970) is 'so strong and so delicate'.
• (6). Leatherhead, 17 July 1972. Autograph aerogramme, addressed to Harwood in Greece. Guest arrived from Japan in late May and has now found a job teaching French at Exeter School. Has been elected to the Poetry Society Committee (Bob Cobbing). Visited New York on the way back to England where he lunched with Ashbery.
• (7). Exeter, 24 September 1972 (postmark). Autograph note (1 sheet), with envelope. Suggesting weekend dates for Harwood to visit in October.
• (8). Exeter, 2 October 1972 (postmark). Autograph note (1 sheet), with envelope. Further encouragement to visit in October.
• (9). Exeter, 25 May 1973 (postmark). Autograph aerogramme, addressed to Harwood in Boston, Mass.
• (10). Exeter, 1 November 1973 (postmark). Autograph postcard addressed to Harwood in Brighton.
• (11). Exeter, 21 January 1974 (postmark). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet), with envelope.
• (12). Exeter, 28 January 1975 (postmark). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet), with envelope. 'Immensely looking forward to seeing/hearing you at Dartington le 8 mai.'
• (13). Cherbourg, 7 April 1975 (postmark). Autograph postcard (water damaged).
• (14). Exeter, Trinity Sunday 1975 [25 May]. Autograph letter (2 sheets), with envelope. Comments on Harwood, 'Notes of a Post Office Clerk' (dedicated to Guest). Has withdrawn from the Poetry Society (unable to attend meetings). 'The bad news is I can't get my novel "Days" taken anywhere.'
• (15). Exeter, November 1975 (postmark and Harwood reply date on envelope). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet), with envelope. Further remarks on 'Notes of a Post Office Clerk'. 'What is going on in Earls Court Square?' (The Poetry Society).
• (16). Exeter, 22 December 1975 (postmark). Undated autograph letter (2 sheets), with envelope. Presenting congratulations on the publication of Tzara, Selected Poems (Trigram, 1975). 'I remember buying with you in that bookshop south of The Strand in '65 was it or earlier that [obscure word] L'homme approximatif which is I confess to my shame the only Tzara I posssess apart from anthologies.'
• (17). Exeter, 17 February 1976 (postmark). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet), with envelope. Comments on Harwood, H.M.S. Little Fox (Oasis Books, 1975).
• (18). Exeter, 29 December 1976 (postmark). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet), with envelope. 'Wonderful news re Jud and the child!' Reference to Poetry Society matters: 'all the Guardian said was Nuttall & Cobbing axis resigned.' Thanks Harwood for his comments on English Poems (Words, 1976): 'when they were finally completed it was Lee the H I really had in mind to read them - especially as "Chalk escarpment..." contains memories [...].'
• (19). [Exeter], 7 February 1977 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). 'Reading Keat's letters for the first time I'm ashamed to say.'
• (20). Exeter, 14 March 1977 (postmark), with envelope. Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). 'I think [Eric] Mottram has finally flipped: what an ignoble issue of the Poetry Review.'
• (21). Exeter, 24 June 1977 (postmark), with envelope. Undated autograph letter (2 sheets). Includes comments on Poetry Society matters.
• (22). Exeter, 12 September 1977 (postmark). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). 'This morning passed with delight in reading your new book.'
• (23). [Exeter], 23 October [1977]. Autograph letter (1 sheet). Following reading in London.
• (24). [Exeter], 14 November 1977 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). Harwood visiting in December.
• (25). [Exeter], 28 November 1977 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet).
• (26). [Exeter], 3 January 1978 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). 'Poetry is facts'.
• (27). [Exeter], 28 March 1978 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet).
• (28). [Exeter], 10 April 1978 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet).
• (29). [Exeter], 15 May 1978 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet).
• (30). [Exeter], 2 June 1978 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). After visiting Harwood in Brighton.
• (31) [Exeter], 18 July 1978 (Harwood's annotated reply date). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). Includes comments on (in manuscript?) Lopez and Harwood, Wish You Were Here (1979). Guest's second novel has been rejected by thirteen publishers.
• (32). [Exeter], 16 October 1978 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (2 sheets). Delighted to receive Harwood's letter about his novel, Days (1978). Currently working on translations of Hugo.
• (33). [Exeter], January 1979 (Harwood's annotation). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet).
• (34). [Exeter], 5 February 1979 (Harwood's annotation). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). Delighted at the news of Harwood's second child. Has been invited to read at the Cambridge Poetry Festival (Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg also reading).
• (35). [Exeter], 4 June 1979 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (1 sheet). Has at 'long last' read F. T. Prince: 'a revelation'. Cambridge Poetry Festival next weekend.
• (36). [Exeter], 16 July 1979 (postmark, envelope not retained). Undated autograph letter (2 sheets). Further comments on Wish You Were Here, and comments on the Cambridge Poetry Festival.
• (37). [December 1979]. Christmas card, with news that Lynn Guest has won the Georgette Heyer Prize for her first novel, Children of Hachiman.