Dec 30, 2009

I Stop Writing the Poem | Historical Context

Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver (1938-1988) was a famed American short-story writer and poet. Gallagher met Carver at a writer's workshop in Iowa, and they began a friendship that would last a decade and would color both Gallagher's life and her writing.

Before meeting Gallagher, Carver had turned to alcohol to ease the distress of a failed marriage, several unfulfilling jobs, and a lack of the kind of success in writing that he was craving. In 1977, Carver quit drinking and coincidently met Gallagher. They lived and worked together for ten years. A few months before...