A Friend Sails in on a Poem

Two women begin a friendship in poetry, never anticipating it would last half a century…

For the last forty-six years, the distinguished poets Molly Peacock and Phillis Levin have read and discussed nearly every poem they’ve written—an unparalleled friendship in poetry. Here Peacock traces the development of their ideas about poetry across their lifelong back-and-forth, quoting their poems, investigating their childhoods, personalities, writing habits, reading habits, and startling differences.  She speculates about their challenges as they meet across seminar tables, kitchen tables, coffee, tea and restaurant tables from their twenties through their sixties and seventies.  A Friend Sails in on a Poem offers a charming, psychologically wise, and metaphorically piquant look at navigating craft, creativity, and companionship.  This is a book both for serious poets as well as for anyone who wants a deep dive into the impact of friendship on art itself.