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Edna St. Vincent Millay, American Poet

Millay, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1933. Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 - October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. She was also known for her feminist activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work. Her fame began in 1912 when she entered her poem "Renascence" in a poetry contest in The Lyric Year. The poem was widely considered the best submission and when it was ultimately awarded fourth place, it created a scandal which brought Millay publicity. Her 1920 collection A Few Figs From Thistles drew controversy for its novel exploration of female sexuality and feminism. In 1919 she wrote the anti-war play Aria da Capo which starred her sister Norma Millay at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City. Millay won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923 for "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver". During the first war Millay had been a dedicated and active pacifist; however, from 1940 she supported the Allied Forces, writing in celebration of the war effort and later working with Writers' War Board to create propaganda, including poetry. She died at her home on October 19, 1950. She had fallen down stairs and was found approximately eight hours after her death. Her physician reported that she had suffered a heart attack following a coronary occlusion. She was 58 years old.
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Title:
Edna St. Vincent Millay, American Poet
Caption:
Millay, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1933. Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 - October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. She was also known for her feminist activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work. Her fame began in 1912 when she entered her poem "Renascence" in a poetry contest in The Lyric Year. The poem was widely considered the best submission and when it was ultimately awarded fourth place, it created a scandal which brought Millay publicity. Her 1920 collection A Few Figs From Thistles drew controversy for its novel exploration of female sexuality and feminism. In 1919 she wrote the anti-war play Aria da Capo which starred her sister Norma Millay at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City. Millay won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923 for "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver". During the first war Millay had been a dedicated and active pacifist; however, from 1940 she supported the Allied Forces, writing in celebration of the war effort and later working with Writers' War Board to create propaganda, including poetry. She died at her home on October 19, 1950. She had fallen down stairs and was found approximately eight hours after her death. Her physician reported that she had suffered a heart attack following a coronary occlusion. She was 58 years old.
Credit:
Album / Science Source / LOC/Carl Van Vechten Collection
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Image size:
2958 x 3933 px | 33.3 MB
Print size:
25.0 x 33.3 cm | 9.9 x 13.1 in (300 dpi)
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