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Joseph Addison
English poet, playwright, essayist, classical scholar, and critic;
traveled widely in Europe, meeting important literary figures between 1699 and 1703; held a number of minor political appointments as a result of his support of the Whig Party; his tragedy Cato produced 1713; best known for his numerous essays on literary, social, and political subjects: 41 written alone and 34 in collaboration with Richard Steele for The Tatler (1709-1711), 274 written for The Spectator (1710-1712), and 51 for The Guardian (1713).
AE (George William Russell)
Irish poet, novelist, painter, economist, journalist, and editor; gave up painting in his twenties to concentrate on writing; close friend of Yeats who involved him in Irish nationalism movement and interested him in mystical theosophy which became an important element in much of his poetry; first volume of poetry Homeward: Songs of the Way published in 1894; edited Irish Homestead from 1906 to 1923 and its successor Irish Statesman from 1923 to 1930, periodicals which became the primary forum for his ideas on economic and political reform in Ireland; published two books on economic reform, Cooperation and Nationality in 1912 and The National Being in 1916; wrote two novels, The Interpreters (1922) and The Avatars (1933); his Collected Poems published 1913, with a second edition in 1926; in 1932, published a prose commentary on his own poetry, Song and Its Fountains.
Conrad Potter Aiken
American poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and critic; his father killed his mother and committed suicide when Aiken was 11; raised by family members; attended Harvard; first volume Earth Triumphant published 1914, the first of almost 50 volumes of poetry, fiction, and essays; visited Europe frequently and lived for several years in England between 1916 and 1926; his books of poetry include The Jig of Forslin: A Symphony (1916), Senlin: A Biography, and Other Poems (1918), The House of Dust: A Symphony (1920), The Coming Forth by Day of Osiris Jones (1931), Preludes for Memnon (1931), And In The Human Heart (1940), Brownstone Eclogues (1942), A Letter from Li Po (1955), and The Morning Song of Lord Zero (1963); his Selected Poems (1930) won the Pulitzer Prize and his Collected Poems (1953, with a second edition in 1970) won a National Book Award; other works include such novels asBlue Voyage (1927), A Heart for the Gods of Mexico (1939), and Conversation; or, Pilgrim''s Progress (1940), critical works such as A Reviewer''s ABC (1958), and a psychological autobiography Ushant (1952).
Mark Akenside
English poet, essayist, editor, and physician; son of a butcher, his foot was permanently injured when his father''s cleaver accidently fell on it; first poem "The Virtuoso" in Spenserian stanzas published in Gentleman''s Magazine in 1737 when he was 16, starting a fad for writing poems in Spenserian stanza taken up by such poets as William Shenstone and James Thomson; became a regular contributer to Gentleman''s Magazine; began his best-known work The Pleasures of Imagination in 1738 at age 17; after briefly undergoing training as a dissenting minister, changed his mind and began practicing as a surgeon by 1741; Pleasures of the Imagination published on Pope''s recommendation in January 1744 and was immediate success; went to Europe in April 1744 and took medical degree in Leyden that year, returning to England in early 1745; published Ode on Several Subjects in 1745, and began medical practice in London; became editor of magazine The Museum in 1746 anumerous essays for it until its demise later that year; as his medical practice flourished, his poetic interests waned; elected to Royal Society in 1753 and made Fellow of College of Physicians in 1754; appointed one of the Physicians-in-Ordinary to the Queen in 1761; his collected Poems published posthumously in 1772.
Zoe Akins
American poet, playwright, and screenwriter; first successful play was Declassee (1919) following several failures and a bout with tuberculosis; The Greeks Had A Word For It (1930), a comedy, later became the basis for the screenplay of How To Marry A Millionaire; as few of her plays had been particularly successful, moved to Hollywood from New York in 1930 and began to write screenplays such as Morning Glory (1934) and Camille (1937); her play The Old Maiden, based on Edith Wharton''s novel of the same name, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1935, but caused a furor among critics as it was an adaptation, not an original work, and led to the establishment of the "Critics'' Choice Award" (which she never won) as an alternative to the Pulitzer.
Louisa May Alcott
American poet, novelist, and editor; daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott who was a close friend and associate of Emerson and Thoreau, who were frequent visitors, and Hawthorne, their next-door neighbor; educated at home, with Thoreau as one of her tutors; began writing at the age of 16; interested in the theatre in her teens and early twenties and wrote a number of plays, including The Bandit''s Bride and The Rival Prima Donnas, none of which were produced; her first book Flower Fables published in 1854; by 1860, was contributing fiction and poetry regularly to The Atlantic Monthly in order to help support her family; during first half of Civil War, worked as nurse in a Union hospital until her health gave way; letters written to her family during this time published very successfully in 1863 as Hospital Sketches; first novel Moods published in 1864; visited Europe in 1865; became editor of children''s magazine Merry''s Museum in 1867; first volume of Little Women published 1868 and was highly successful; second volume published 1869; her following works included among others An Old-Fashioned Girl (1870), Little Men (1871), Work (1873), Eight Cousins (1875), Rose in Bloom (1876), Under the Lilacs (1880), Aunt Jo''s Scrapbook (6 volumes, 1872-1882), Lulu''s Library (3 volumes, 1886-1889), Jo''s Boys (1886), and A Garland for Girls (1888); died only a few days after her father in 1888.
Published: September 29, 2007
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