By Nava Atlas | On February 15, 2014 | Updated February 12, 2024 | Comments (0)
Grace Paley (December 11, 1922 – August 22, 2007), best known for her short stories depicting the dailiness of women’s lives, was also a poet, teacher, and political activist.
The daughter of Jewish Ukrainian immigrants (who Americanized their surname, Gutseit, to Goodside), she was born and raised in the Bronx.
It’s somewhat ironic that Paley, who dropped in and out of various schools (including Hunter College and The New School for Social Research) and never received a degree, did a lot of teaching in her career. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On June 27, 2013 | Updated August 25, 2024 | Comments (0)
Amy Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet known for a form of poetry called Imagism. The product of a wealthy Brookline, Massachusetts family, she was educated privately and spent part of her youth traveling abroad.
She started life as a pampered debutante, but her accomplishments and dedication to her craft eclipse her privileged beginnings. In addition, she’s now celebrated as a rediscovered lesbian poet.
Most of all, she’s remembered as an Imagist poet, which, according to her was defined as the “concentration is of the very essence of poetry” and aimed to “produce poetry that is hard and clear, never blurred nor indefinite.”
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By Nava Atlas | On June 7, 2013 | Updated March 29, 2026 | Comments (0)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861), the accomplished British poet, was born in County Durham, England. She grew up in an atmosphere of privilege as the eldest daughter of Edward Moulton.
Her father changed the family name to Barrett when he inherited vast businesses, including a West Indies plantations, along with mills, and ships. Edward Barrett was a slave holder.
The eldest of twelve children, Elizabeth was schooled at the family home in Herefordshire, England. She showed much early aptitude for her future calling — she began reading novels at age six, and her first significant poem was written at about age seven. Read More→
By Hannah Wright | On August 14, 2012 | Updated February 29, 2024 | Comments (3)
Christina Stead (July 17, 1902 – March 31, 1983) was an Australian-born novelist, short story writer, and Journalist born into a Socialist family.
Her masterful writing went unrecognized for much of her life. Her most notable work is The Man Who Loved Children.
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By Nava Atlas | On July 19, 2012 | Updated August 25, 2024 | Comments (0)
Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982), American author born in St. Petersburg, Russia. Originally named Alisa Rosenbaum, she was a bookish child who loved stories and started writing her own when still quite young.
Later, as a widely read (if not critically acclaimed) author, she became known for ponderous novels like The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, which were based on the philosophical tenets of Objectivism, which she developed.
Her novels’ leading men were mouthpieces for her objectivist views — especially Howard Roark in The Fountainhead and John Galt in Atlas Shrugged. Her philosophy, as she defined it was, “The concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” Read More→
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