Into the World’s Great Heart

Into the World’s Great Heart is an annotated selection of the letters of the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay, spanning from her childhood through to the last year of her life.

Throughout her life, Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote hundreds of letters, which together create a colourful tapestry of her inner life. This selection, based on archival research, represents Millay’s correspondence from 1900, when she was eight, until 1950, the last year of her life. Through her letters, readers encounter the vast range of Millay’s interests, including world literature, music, and horse racing, as well as her strong commitment to gender equality and social justice.

This collection, edited by Timothy F. Jackson, includes previously unpublished correspondence, as well as letters containing early versions of poems, revealing new dimensions in Millay’s creative process and influences. It is enriched by Jackson’s thoughtful introduction and notes, plus a foreword by Millay’s literary executor, Holly Peppe.

Millay’s observations on her inner life and the world around her—which speak to contemporary concerns as well—add to our understanding of American literature in the first half of the twentieth century.