Interview with Elizabeth Hardwick, September 20, 1979

Interview Summary

Hardwick met Robert Lowell at a party given by Phillip Rahv, the publisher of the Partisan Review. Tate and Hardwick corresponded through the 1970s. Hardwick describes what it was like to be married to a person with a serious mental illness. Hardwick discusses loneliness, and the solitude necessary to a writer. Hardwick discusses Lowell's poetry and their trip to Europe. Hardwick describes Lowell's bouts of mental illness, how they came upon him, and medical treatment and hospitalizations he underwent. She did not find it onerous to care for her husband, and had a great deal of support. Hardwick discusses "Sleepless Nights," and how many of the characters and events are fictional, within a framework of truth.

Interview Keyword

Elizabeth Hardwick Cal Lowell Robert Lowell Phillip Rahv Partisan Review Literary criticism Library of Congress Nervous breakdown Poetry readings Thorazine Lithium Cereno, Benito

Interview LC Subject

Authors, American--Kentucky Intellectual life Literature Hardwick, Elizabeth. Short stories. Selections Lowell, Robert, 1917-1977 Tate, Allen, 1899-1979 Santayana, George, 1863-1952 Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959 Miller, Perry, 1905-1963 Women--Employment Brazelton, T. Berry, 1918- Lexington (Ky.) Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.