I have only now been able to read the manuscript you left for me in Bancroft. As a rule, when alleged poetry is given to me for my opinion, what I read makes me very unhappy; for it is seldom that such offerings are of any value, and it is not a pleasure to comment on them. I have not had an unhappy experience in reading your verse, for I have been both surprised and pleased.
In the first place, you have something that you actually want to communicate to others--genuine human experiences that you want to share. This is the necessary beginning, and you have it.
I should say that a general view of your work would justify my saying that much of what you have written is either eloquent declamation arranged in long and short lines or the notes for poems as yet unwritten, often remarkably beautiful suggestions. This comment applies to a large percentage of teh work done by the poets of our day. In reading what I have just dictated, I feel that I have not expressed a certain delight I have in flashes of wisdom and beauty that I find here and there in your work.
I would suggest that you go over your manuscript very carefully, combing it for minor errors in arrangement and punctuation, and that thereafter you write to Mrs. Hugh Bullock, President of the Academy of American Poets, 1078 Madison Avenue, New York City, New York, 10028, stating that I found much good in your manuscript and would like to see it given a chance. Ask her if she would read it and would give you any suggestions that may occur to her. I was one of the chancellors of the Academy of American Poets for a number of years, and I feel that Mrs. Bullock will be interested.
I hope that we may meet again and have a good talk before too long.
John G. Neihardt
verse poems-Bancroft-1969-Gaki stopped mailing [a?] this letter at the last moment — to reconsider a day or two— He never did want it sent finally —
I have inquired at Bancroft about Converse—He is established in New York & doing well by 1972
M. M. Y —
