Conrad Aiken

CONRAD AIKEN

Born on August 5 1889 in the country of Georgia, Conrad Potter Aiken was an American poet, short story writer, critic and writer. Having suffered a rough childhood, Aiken lost his parents at a young age of 11 when his father murdered his wife and then committed suicide himself. The horrified boy was utterly traumatized by this incident and much of his work in the field of philosophy was influenced by this episode. The orphaned boy was raised by his great-aunt and uncle in Massachusetts. A student of Harvard University, Aiken co-edited the 'Advocate' with his friend and colleague, T.S. Eliot. Along with this, Aiken also studied under the famous influencer, George Santayana. Strongly influenced by symbolism, his writings were philosophical with strong thoughts running through them. Aiken received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his Selected Poems in 1930. His autobiography, titled 'Ushant' was published in 1952. Some of his famous works include 'Earth Triumphant', 'Turns and Movies and other Tales in Verse', 'Bring! Bring! ', 'The Last Visit' and 'Blue Voyage'. A man of fame and honour, Aiken received numerous prestigious writing awards, including the 1954 National Book Award for Collected Poems, Poetry Society of America (PSA) Shelley Memorial Award, the Bollingen Prize in Poetry, the National Institute of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry and many more. 
Conrad Aiken


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