Edna St. Vincent Millay

About Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay was born on February 22, 1892 in Maine. She published poems, plays, political writings, and a libretto for an opera.

Millay started to gain fame with the publication of the poem "Renascence" when she was nineteen. It was an entry in a poetry contest, and she came in fourth place. The other people whose poems were recognized above hers said hers was by far the best.

Her poem "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923. She was only the third woman to win this prize for poetry.

During the first World War, Millay was a known pacifist, but from 1940 on, she supported the Allied Forces, and even wrote poetry to support their efforts. This work for the war hurt her reputation among her peers in poetry circles.

Millay and her husband lived in a farmhouse in Austerlitz, NY for 25 years together. Her husband wanted to create a place that would be conducive to her writing. The house at Steepletop has now become a museum that is open to the public, where tours are available through the house and gardens.

Edna St. Vincent Millay passed away on October 19, 1950.

References

• millay.org