27 TLsS, 10 ALsS, 4 APCs, 67 pp., most dating from 1989 to 2003, w/ 1 early letter, Aug. 1963; mostly sent from Fresno, CA; New York City and Brooklyn, to his brother Eli Levine. Many letters in large type, especially May 27, 2001 and after. 1 TL, May 6, 1998, addressed to "Fischele," probably Eli to PL

The letters are in fine condition.. Philip Levine rose from working class origins in Detroit to attain some of the highest honors for a poet: the National Book Award for Poetry (twice), the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and US Poet Laureate. In this collection of letters Levine (1928-2015) writes to his brother Eli Levine (sometimes addressed to Eli and his wife, Louise). Most date from 1989 to 2003, but in one letter from 1963, PL, already a published poet, jokingly critiques Eli's poetry, "Accept my homage, you who are . . . a sort of Grand Marshal Petain of Poetry."
The later letters cover PL being inducted into the American Academy of Arts and (truncated) Letters, the success of his books, upcoming interviews and projects, traveling, his sons, and his wife, Fran, especially her hospitalization for several days in 1997. Other topics are current events, good wine, PL's gout and Meniere's disease (an inner ear disorder), and their mother's death.
From 1998 on, Eli experienced eye problems so significant that many of the letters are written in larger type, "Here is type I hope you can read."
Enclosures include a joke rejection slip on Ploughshares letterhead, and a 1991 interview with a Barcelona newspaper. The letters are in fine condition. (Inventory #: 23205)