Previously unseen journals, letters, sketches and more from the vast personal archive of Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen is renowned the world over for his meditations on beauty, death, loss and the human heart. The objects, papers and artifacts from Cohen’s personal archive provide fresh insight into the artist’s creative pursuits and the arc of his career over six decades. Aware from an early age that he was destined to make a mark on this world, Cohen preserved an expansive collection of letters, journals, manuscripts, sketches and records. Together, they provide a rich visual road map to his evolution as a poet and songwriter. The first publication to present the holdings of the Leonard Cohen Family Trust, Everybody Inside His Archive immerses readers in the many facets of Cohen’s creative life. Images of rare concert footage and archival materials, including musical instruments, notebooks, lyrics and letters, are featured alongside photographs, drawings and digital art created by Cohen across several decades. Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) was a Canadian poet, singer-songwriter and novelist. Born and educated in Montreal, Cohen began his artistic career in 1956 with the publication of his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies . Over his long and productive career, he published two novels, The Favourite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966), and numerous books of poetry, including Stranger Selected Poems and Songs (1993). He recorded more than a dozen music albums, and numerous tribute albums have celebrated his songs in various languages. He died in Los Angeles in 2016 and was secretly buried in Montreal a few days later.
Author
Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1968 album Songs of Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music melodies and instrumentation, sung in a high baritone. The 1970s were a musically restless period in which his influences broadened to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Since the 1980s he has typically sung in lower registers (bass baritone, sometimes bass), with accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers. His work often explores the themes of religion, isolation, sexuality, and complex interpersonal relationships. Cohen's songs and poetry have influenced many other singer-songwriters, and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 for his status among the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters".
