Tomislav Sabljak correspondence received from W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and others

1963-1972, 1995

Tomislav Sabljak (born 1934 in Zagreb, Croatia) is a Croatian writer, translator, and retired university professor, associated with the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the University of Zagreb. The collection comprises letters, postcards, and a telegram received by Tomislav Sabljak at Zagreb in Yugoslavia, later Croatia, from English poets W. H. Auden, T. S. Eliot, Ted Hughes, and Stephen Spender, as well as Americans Mark Schorer, author, and Karl Shapiro, poet, dated 1963-1972, and 1995. The correspondence, conveying a sense of literary fellowship, chiefly concerns the translation of the writers' works into Croatian, and their publication. Travel plans are also discussed. Auden and Spender answer questions about meanings held in their poems, with Spender explaining two terms with small pen drawings (1966 January 6). Present are thirteen autograph and typed letters signed by W. H. Auden, and a telegram, 1964-1972, including the typed text of his poem "August 1968" (1969 February 14); eight autograph and typed letters signed by Stephen Spender, 1964-1967, 1995; two typed letters signed by T. S. Eliot, 1963 August 27 (aerogramme) and 1964 May 7, thanking Sabljak for articles he sent; and a typed letter signed by Ted Hughes, 1968 December 3, enclosing typescripts of three poems for translation: "Carrion Tiresias Examines the Sacrifice," "A Kill," and "Notes for a Little Play." Two postcards from Mark Schorer in Italy, 1964, concern his intention to visit Zagreb, and a typed letter signed by Karl Shapiro from Nebraska, 1966 February 23, expresses his thanks. The writers mention Auden and Spender, respectively. Also present is an undated autograph letter signed by Natasha Spender, postmarked 1995 August 31, advising of her husband's death