The Playful Postcards of Lucia Berlin and Kenward Elmslie

Kenward Elmslie was an award-winning poet, lyricist, literary magazine editor, and opera librettist whose work thrived in collaboration with other writers, musicians, and visual artists. Elmslie, who was a grandson of Joseph Pulitzer, died at age 93 in June 2022. Elmslie met Lucia Berlin when they were both in Boulder, Colorado, teaching at Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program in 1994, and they became fast friends.

At the time, Berlin was an accomplished but little read short story writer. In their correspondence, while Elmslie reports his own good reviews (and some bad), Lucia mostly recounts shocked reactions of neighbor ladies who are scandalized by the content of her stories. Still, Elmslie believed in Berlin. He wrote about Where I Live Now, Berlin’s 1998 volume of selected stories, “The placement of the tales is, I think, masterful. Your Body of Work, by now, is so strong. Who else has a continuum of short fictions that hold up like—like Gang Busters—as my Tejan collaborator-composer Claibe [Richardson] would say. Your very own niche. In ancient times, Kathy Mansfield. Dotty Parker. And Tru [Capote].”

Kenward’s correspondence, friendship, and financial support that he helped arrange through arts funding organizations sustained Berlin until her death in 2004. In turn, Berlin recommended one of her favorite students, , to become Elmslie’s assistant when it was clear his