Correspondence, 1941-1967

This series contains 892 items, most of them sent by Karl Shapiro to Evalyn Katz Shapiro; the earliest, to Evalyn from Shapiro, is dated March 26, 1941, and the last, from Shapiro to his daughter Elizabeth, October 15, 1967. The majority of the correspondence was written between 1941 and 1945, the period during which Karl Shapiro served in the United States Army. As a clerk for the Army Medical Corps, Shapiro had easy access to a typewriter, and, therefore, much of the correspondence is typed. The correspondence is composed of V-letters, postcards, letters, and telegrams. The main focus of the correspondence is the poems Shapiro enclosed in his letters to Evalyn. Shapiro wrote in detail about inspirations for his poems, how and when he wrote, his opinions on the writing of poetry, and his own published poems. Other topics discussed in the letters are his failure to marry Evalyn by proxy, worries about her health, and the couple's post-war plans. The post-1945 letters written by Shapiro are also mostly to Evalyn and concern his daily activities. However, these letters do not mention writing. Other post-war letters were written to his children, apprising them of his activities during his travels.

Karl Shapiro, despite being far the New York literary scene, managed to stay in touch with many of the key figures in publishing and frequently mentions them in his letters to Evalyn. Among those whom he knew personally are Eleanor Dark, Cecily Crozier, Richard Hart, Archibald MacLeish, Oscar Williams, Babette Deutsch, and Allen Tate. Later letters mention John Ciardi and Ralph Ellison, both of whom were acquaintances of Shapiro. He also read and expressed strong opinions to Evalyn about writers, whom he did not know personally including T. S. Eliot, Katherine Anne Porter, Robert Penn Warren, and William Saroyan.

The collection also contains correspondence to various individuals outside Shapiro's immediate family. Shapiro sent occasional messages to Evalyn's mother, Bessie Katz, in 1943 and 1944, inquiring after her health and wishing her well. The collection also holds two letters, dated May 14 and May 29, 1943, from Shapiro to Allen Tate about literary reviews. Also included in the collection is a V-letter Shapiro sent to his brother, Irvin, and his wife, Hillary, on July 12, 1943, describing camp conditions in New Guinea. Finally, there is a letter dated January 23, 1944, addressed to "Jerry" from Shapiro about Shapiro's return to the United States following the war.

Four items in the collection were not written by Karl Shapiro. A V-letter from Allen Tate to Shapiro dated April 29, 1943, discusses a review by Tate of Shapiro's work. A telegram, sent by Bobby Kaal from Australia to Philip Delnegro in Baltimore on April 3, 1942, directs Delnegro to notify the Shapiro family and Evalyn Katz that he and Karl Shapiro are safe in Australia. In a telegram to Evalyn Katz dated July 29, 1944, Selden Rodman notified her that he had news of Shapiro's transfer. Finally, a letter, dated January 1, 1945, from "J + S" to Evalyn Katz contains an excerpt of a letter from Shapiro with a note in it to her.

This series is arranged chronologically.