The Letters of Samuel Beckett

The Letters of Samuel Beckett is the first comprehensive edition of the letters of Irish-born writer Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), providing access to primary sources now scattered in archives and private collections world-wide. Through The Letters, students, scholars, critics and theatre artists can trace the evolution of Beckett’s work with increased insight into his choices as a writer. The Letters of Samuel Beckett will enrich our perspective on the arts and life of the twentieth century.

• For more information, visit the Beckett Letters website.

The project to edit Beckett’s letters became affiliated with the Emory University Graduate School in 1990 and, with its support, received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (1991-1997, 2008-2010). Awards from the Florence Gould Foundation to the project (1992-2003) enabled The American University of Paris to become a center for the edition in France. By involving students in the research, the edition has served as a “laboratory for humanities research.”

The edition is poised now for its final phase: publication. Volume I (1929-1940) was published by Cambridge University Press in February 2009. Volumes II (1945-1956), III (1957-1969), and IV (1970-1989) will follow as well as a one-volume edition and translations. A Beckett Web Portal is planned to provide an updatable electronic finding aid that describes and gives current ownership of all extant Beckett letters, a compilation of biographical profiles for major figures, a comprehensive index to the letters, as well as links to relevant finding aids in archival collections world-wide.