Claim: Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer.

Edgar Allan Poe -LRB- -LSB- poʊ -RSB- born Edgar Poe ; January 19 , 1809 -- October 7 , 1849 -RRB- was an American writer , editor , and literary critic . Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories , particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre . He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole , and he was one of the country 's earliest practitioners of the short story . Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction . He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone , resulting in a financially difficult life and career .   Poe was born in Boston , the second child of two actors . His father abandoned the family in 1810 , and his mother died the following year . Thus orphaned , the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond , Virginia . They never formally adopted him , but Poe was with them well into young adulthood . Tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar repeatedly clashed over debts , including those incurred by gambling , and the cost of secondary education for the young man . Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money . Poe quarreled with Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name . It was at this time that his publishing career began , albeit humbly , with the anonymous collection of poems Tamerlane and Other Poems -LRB- 1827 -RRB- , credited only to `` a Bostonian '' . With the death of Frances Allan in 1829 , Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement . However , Poe later failed as an officer cadet at West Point , declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer , and he ultimately parted ways with John Allan .   Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals , becoming known for his own style of literary criticism . His work forced him to move among several cities , including Baltimore , Philadelphia , and New York City . In Richmond in 1836 , he married Virginia Clemm , his 13-year-old cousin . In January 1845 , Poe published his poem `` The Raven '' to instant success . His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication . For years , he had been planning to produce his own journal The Penn -LRB- later renamed The Stylus -RRB- , though he died before it could be produced . Poe died in Baltimore on October 7 , 1849 , at age 40 ; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol , brain congestion , cholera , drugs , heart disease , rabies , suicide , tuberculosis , and other agents .   Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world , as well as in specialized fields such as cosmology and cryptography . Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature , music , films , and television . A number of his homes are dedicated museums today . The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre .