 During this period she was already in correspondence with Kenneth Rexroth who prodded and sent her many of his books.Among the young poets there at the same time were Richard Yates, who she describes as "born in Yonkers like me but on the other side of town," and Edward Wallant, who worked two blocks away from her in New York.Significantly, it was also the first time Oden had met any young black writers.