Literature / Writers Datebook: January 19
Brief biography of American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, best
known for his eerie poems and The Murders in the Rue Morgue story.He's also famous for his short poes "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee".
A pioneer of crime and mystery writing,
Edgar Allan Poe was an influential 19th-century American horror
writer. He is famous for his spooky stories including his famous tale “The
Murders in the Rue Morgue, and poetry, including the best known “The Raven”.
Early Turbulent Life of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of his parents died before he was three years old, and he was adopted by a wealthy tobacco merchant from Richmond, Virginia. Poe never felt settled in his new family, and his bad behavior brought him conflict with his adopted father, who also disapproved of him spending more time writing poetry than studying.
In 1827 Poe left the Univeristy of Virginia, where he had got into gambling debts. Four years later, he was expelled from West Point Military Academy. His adopted father had enough and disowned him. Poe had to live with an aunt in Baltimore.
Poe’s Literary Success
Venturing as a poet, short story writer and as literary critic, at the age of 24, Poe experienced his first literary success when his short story “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” won a cash prize. He began working for magazines, but his unpredictable behavior and heavy drinking often got him into trouble. He was fired from work. The stories and poem he produced, however, began to make him famous and were published in the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque when he was 31 years old.
In the same year, Poe went to work for Graham’s Magazine, which published his famous story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” It became so popular that many scholars called it the world’s first modern detective story. About this time, he also got married to Virginia Clemm, a 13 year old cousin, and wrote prolifically.
Poe’s Obsession with the Supernatural and Death
Edgar Allan Poe was obsessed with the elements of fear and death, and the supernatural. His works depicted much of these elements, and Poe became the pioneer of the modern genre of horror, crime and mystery writing. His poem “The Raven” became very popular.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Last Years and Literary Legacy
After his wife died of tuberculosis, Poe’s depression got worse and he drank heavily. He died at the young age of 40, on October 7, 1849. His poetry and short stories have influenced many future crime and horror writers.Poe was influenced by: Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, E. T. A. Hoffmann and Thomas De Quincey. Dostoevsky acknowledged his own debt to Poe and Baudelaire produced French translations of Poe’s works. Although he became famous for stories of bleakness, he also wrote of poetry’s purity in such famous poems as “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.”
Works by Edgar Allan Poe
Tamerlane and Other Poems, 1827
Poems, 1831
“Manuscript Found in a Bottle”, 1833
“The Fall of the House of User”, 1839
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, 1840
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, 1841
“The Gold Bug”, 1843
The Raven and Other Poems, 1845
“The Pit and the Pendulum”, 1845
Tales, 1845
Eureka, 1848
Annabel Lee, 1849
Photo Credit:
Edgar Allan Poe. en.wikipedia.org / Public Domain.
Resources:
Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994
McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002
Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997
(c) January 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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