Syme's Letter Writer

A literary jaunt in praise of the lost art of letter writing that explores a cultural history and the undeniable thrill of old-school correspondence—from New Yorker culture writer Rachel Syme.

Inspired by a bestselling turn-of-the-century correspondence handbook penned by a snooty Victorian who had strong opinions on how to lick a stamp, Rachel Syme has rewritten the staid rules of yore for today’s letter writers. Syme insists you must stuff your envelopes with flat frivolities (tip: never glitter!), ask before you perfume a parcel, and cultivate your own ritual around keeping up with your correspondence.

Immerse yourself in this epistolary bric-a-brac celebrating the intimate (whimsical! expressive!) art of written correspondence, covering every part of the process from courting and keeping a pen pal down to buying the best nibs for your refurbished vintage fountain pen. As you read fragments of letters from some of contemporary history’s most iconic figures—Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Audre Lorde and Pat Parker, Virginia Woolf, MFK Fisher, Diana Vreeland, Octavia Butler—take note of how to write about the weather without being a total snooze, how to write a letter like a poet, and how to infuse your writing with a glamorous mystique. Learn about Julia Child’s lifelong pen pal, Maya Angelou’s penchant for hotel stationery, and the importance of choosing a signature paper that captures your essence.

After all, the words you write on paper, no matter how limited the audience, can offer comfort, shared sorrow, cathartic rage, hard-earned insight, refreshing strangeness, absurd silliness, understanding, peace, beauty—and often all of those things all mixed up at the same time.