Letters in Literature: Best Collections of Literary Letters (NPR)

Epistolary fiction is a popular genre where the narrative is told via a series of documents. You have almost certainly read one of these books. Letters are the most common basis for epistolary novels but diary entries are also popular. The word epistolary comes from Latin where epistola means a letter.

I have come across this NPR article which dates back to 2008 but it is still really interesting inasmuch as it gives some examples of correspondence as literature and includes some samples. I must confess I haven't read any of the books they mention but there are other books which include letters and they were quite entertaining reads, such as 84, Charing Cross Road, Dracula, or We Need to Talk about Kevin.

In the past 10 years, there has been a steady stream of epistolary literature. Notable examples include World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks and the one I've just mentioned above, We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver (which we read in our book club a couple of years ago). The Griffin and Sabine series, a love affair told via letters and postcards, by artist Nick Bantock is a trilogy and another example of this form of writing.

They all go on to confirm that letters continue to fascinate us and that the art of writing letters is not fading away in the 21st century.