We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.
Stephen Vincent Benét was an American writer who packed a great deal into his relatively short lifetime which spanned the first half of the 20th century. Remarkably he had his first collection of poems published when aged only 17 and his final, epic piece of work (Western Star), won him the Pulitzer Prize even though it was unfinished when he died in ...
Born in Bristol in 1752, Thomas Chatterton was one of the most enigmatic characters of 18th Century poetry, mostly in part because he took his own life at the tender age of just 17 and wrote the fake 'Rowley poems' that caused such controversy at the time. He became a the focal point for many later poets from the Gothic era ...
Robert E Howard was, in his very short life time, responsible for the creation of pulp fiction characters that are still “alive” today, over seventy years after he created them. He was an American writer of fictional novels but he also dabbled in fantastical poetry, sometimes in standard verse but also in “prose” form. Many were published in poetry journals such as ...
Novalis was a late 18th century German writer who lived for less than thirty years. He was well known at the time as a philosopher and he wrote Fragmenten – a short collection of fragments of philosophical thought. Much of this, and other pieces of work, were published by friends after his death. He only released a single collection of poems, titled ...
Born in 1672 in Wiltshire, Joseph Addison was a poet and writer who is most well-known for creating The Spectator, a magazine that had the primary aim of encouraging philosophical conversation. Addison started the magazine with his friend Richard Steele whom he had met first at Charterhouse School. He was a talented student with a liking for the classics that took him ...
Born in 1621 in Champagne, French poet Jean de La Fontaine was perhaps one of the most famous and popular writers of his time and is best known for his work Fables Choisies. His father was a forestry manager and the family would be considered today upper middle class. For most of his childhood, La Fontaine went to school ...
Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio was born near Florence in 1313 and was one of the leading lights of the Renaissance, popular for the realism he brought to his verse compared to some of his contemporaries. His father was a merchant, and Boccaccio grew up in a privileged family, learning about and influenced by the works of Dante at an early age. Although ...
Born at the end of the tenth century in the Heian period, Izumi Shikibu was a Japanese poet who was from an influential family in Echizen. Shikibu was part of a group of Japanese poets who were known as the 36 Immortals, selected from the three main periods of poetry by Fujiwara no Kinto. She is well-known for her romantic and ...
Born in Egypt in 1888, Giuseppe Ungaretti was one of the most influential Italian poets of the last century helping to develop the writing style that was known as Hermeticism, which grew out of the Symbolist school of thought. His first work of published poetry was produced whilst he was on the front line of World War I, fighting in the ...
Born in 1849 in New York, Emma Lazarus is perhaps best known for providing the poem adorning the plaque at the bottom of the Empire State Building, entitled The New Colossus. From a wealthy Jewish background, she was a precocious child who was largely tutored at home. Taking an interest in literature and poetry from early on, she also learned several ...
