Letters between Forster and Isherwood on Homosexuality and Literature

Letters between Forster and Isherwood on Homosexuality and Literature

Letters between Forster and Isherwood on Homosexuality and Literature Edited by Richard E. Zeikowitz

letters between forster and isherwood on homosexuality and literature Copyright Richard E. Zeikowitz, 2008. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-37413-7 DOI 10.1057/9780230614147 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: August 2008 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 978-0-230-61414-7 (ebook) All letters by E. M. Forster are reproduced with permission from the Society of Authors as agent for the Provost and Scholars of King s College Cambridge. All letters by Christopher Isherwood are reproduced with permission from Don Bachardy. Cover drawings of Forster and Isherwood drawn from life by Don Bachardy. Transferred to Digital Printing in 2013

For Don Bachardy and James White

Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 The 1930s 17 2 The War Years: 1939 45 87 3 The Postwar Years 135 Biographical Glossary 165 List of Correspondence 173 Notes 179 Bibliography 193 Index 195

Acknowledgments I thank the Research Foundation of the City University of New York (CUNY) for a generous grant that enabled me to travel to Cambridge, England. I also thank the Huntington Library for a one-month residency fellowship. I was able to examine and transcribe the letters at both King s College Cambridge and the Huntington Library with the help of the very knowledgeable and friendly staff. I thank Patricia McGuire, the archivist at King s College, who was always very attentive to my needs. I also thank Peter Jones, the librarian of King s College Library, for his assistance in obtaining permission to publish E. M. Forster s letters to Christopher Isherwood. I am indebted to Elizabeth Haylett of the Society of Authors for granting permission on behalf of King s College, Cambridge. I am grateful to Sue Hodson, the curator of the Isherwood papers at the Huntington Library, for her enthusiastic support for this project. I also thank the staff of the reading room at the Huntington Library for their assistance. I wish to express my gratitude to Chris Suggs, the former chair of the English department at John Jay College, CUNY, for his support. Without the one-semester release time I would not have been able to complete this project in a timely manner. I also thank Steven Kruger, Michael Shugrue, and James White for their support and encouragement. Lastly, I would like to thank Don Bachardy for graciously permitting two drawings he made of Forster and Isherwood to be reproduced here. As far as I know, he is the only artist to have drawn both Forster and Isherwood.