Harriet Monroe

Harriet Monroe (December 23, 1860 – September 26, 1936) was an American editor, poet, and patron of the arts.

She started Poetry magazine in 1912. She was its editor until she died in 1936.

Monroe was the daughter of a lawyer in Chicago. She attended a private girls school in Washington, D. C. Then she wrote for the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

She published her first poem, “With a Copy of Shelley,” in The Century in 1899. Her first book of poems was Valeria and Other Poems. She wrote a poem for the opening of Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893. She read it in public before a large crowd. In 1903 she published a book of plays, The Passing Show.

She thought that American poetry should be different from European poetry. She also thought that poetry should be more original than many of the poems that were being printed in other places. She believed that poets should make money for their work, as other artists did. She began Poetry magazine by asking 100 people to give 50 dollars for five years. She also asked many writers and poets to send their work for her to print.  The poet Ezra Pound wrote back quickly. He became an important person in the magazine.

Monroe died suddenly in 1936 in Peru.

 Related pages 
List of poets from North America
References

Category:1860 births
Category:1936 deaths
Category:American poets
Category:Writers from Chicago
Category:American editors