E.E. Cummings

(1894-1962)

Edwards Estlin Cummings was an American poet born in Massachusetts on October 14, 1894. Cummings published his first selection of poetry in 1917 entitled Eight Harvard Poets. Cummings is known for his experimentation with punctuation, form, syntax, and spelling, taking a new, reformed approach to poetry. He was often criticized for settling into his unique style and not evolving as an artist. Despite the critic’s opinions of Cummings’ writing, he was very popular, especially among youth. His subject matter,easy to follow language, and playful writing made him unique in his time. Before passing away in 1962, Cummings received several awards including Academy of American Poets Fellowship, the Bollingen Prize, the Ford Foundation Grant, two Gugenheim Fellowships, and the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship. When he died he was the second most widely known poet in the United States.

Read more about EE Cummings:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/e-e-cummings

Read some of Cummings poetry:

http://hellopoetry.com/-e-e-cummings/

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish poet and novelist born in Dublin on February 2, 1882. Joyce is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the modernist era. He is most known for his 1922 novel Ulysses and his short story collection entitled Dubliners. Because of Joyce’s stream of consciousness style of writing, he often explored diverse language and literary forms. He is also known for his examination of large events through seemingly meaningless, everyday small details. Joyce died in 1941 after an intestinal operation.

Read more about Joyce: http://www.biography.com/people/james-joyce-9358676

Read Joyce’s poetry: http://www.poemhunter.com/james-joyce/poems/

Virginia Woolf, born as Adeline Virginia Stephen, was an English writer born in London on January 25, 1882. She is considered to be one of the most significant modernist literary figures of her time. Woolf is most known for her novels:Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, and her long essay A Room of One's Own. In between the First World War and the Second World War, Woolf was a figure of significance as a member of the London literacy society and Bloomsbery Group. She is also known for her feminist criticism and the details she contained within her novels. Virginia Woolf drowned herself in Sussex, England on March 28, 1941.

Read more about Virginia Woolf: http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.co.uk/vw_res.biography.htm

Virginia Woolf’s works: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/index.html