By Nava Atlas | On November 25, 2017 | Updated April 26, 2024 | Comments (2)
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 – 1950) was an American poet and playwright considered a major figure in twentieth-century literature. Following is a selection of memorable quotes by Edna St. Vincent Millay, many brief and pointed, their simplicity belying the complexity of the poet herself.
Millay’s writing talents became widely recognized when she was 19 with the 1912 poem “Renascence.” In her lifetime, she became quite famous both for her talent and her unconventional lifestyle. It’s rare for a poet to attain superstar status, but that’s just what she did.
Throughout the 1920s — call them Roaring or the Jazz Age — she recited to enthusiastic, sold-out crowds during her many reading tours at home and abroad. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On November 11, 2017 | Updated January 1, 2023 | Comments (0)
No one more surprised than Margaret Mitchell (1900 – 1949) herself when Gone With The Wind became an immediate smash hit upon its June, 1936 publication. The novel went on to be published in over forty countries and was adapted as the faithful 1939 film.
Here we’ll explore quotes from Gone With the Wind as well as other gems from the pen of Margaret Mitchell. Margaret may have herself been partially the model for Scarlett O’Hara, one of the most complex and charismatic of literary heroines.
For nine agonizing years, Margaret worked and reworked the massive story, sometimes typing, sometimes scribbling by hand. The manuscript piled up here and there, on desks, in drawers, on closet shelves. She showed friends bits and pieces, but never the entire work. Perhaps no one was as amazed by its phenomenal success as its author. Read More→
By Taylor Jasmine | On November 3, 2017 | Updated November 16, 2024 | Comments (2)
Are you in the mood for some gutsy quotes? Martha Gellhorn (1908 – 1998) was best known as an American war correspondent, though she was a prolific writer of fiction and memoir as well. She was the third wife of iconic American author Ernest Hemingway.
Gellhorn is ranked among the top war journalists of the twentieth century — and didn’t wish to be merely remembered as one of the four wives of “Papa” Hemingway. Famously, she lamented, “Why should I be a footnote to somebody else’s life?”
Indeed, she was enormously accomplished in her own right, having covered nearly every global conflict spanning the twentieth century. Read More→
By Emma Ward | On October 31, 2017 | Updated April 5, 2026 | Comments (0)
Ann Petry’s 1946 novel, The Street, presents the story of a single mother struggling to raise her young son and avoid the dangerous influences surrounding their Harlem apartment. The following quotes from The Street illustrate the raw energy and engrossing storytelling of the novel that make it feel fresh and engaging for the contemporary reader.
The Street was the first novel by an African-American woman author to sell over a million copies, and in total, sold more than a million and a half.
The story centers on Lutie Johnson, who copes with racism, sexual harassment, violence, and class divisions in World War II-era New York City. Lutie loves the wisdom of founding father Benjamin Franklin, and believes that if she follows his principles of thrift and hard work, that she can aspire to the American dream. Read More→
By Taylor Jasmine | On October 30, 2017 | Updated December 18, 2022 | Comments (0)
Christina Stead (1902 – 1983), the Australian-born novelist and short story writer, was best known for the novel The Man Who Loved Children. Following is a selection of quotes from this talented but somewhat embittered author.
The author of fifteen novels and numerous short stories, Stead never gained the success she felt she deserved. Viewed as a misanthrope and curmudgeon, she was a largely unapproachable person who revealed little of herself even as she self-invented. She destroyed many of her personal papers, making it more difficult to preserve her legacy.
In her works, the main characters were often based on herself and the stories very close to her own life. Read More→
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