Pulitzer Prize Author. He received the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for his collection of poetry "Selected Poems," and was the first Southern poet to receive the prize. Other works include "The Epic of Arkansas" in 1936, "South Star" in 1941, "Life is My Song" in 1942, "The Burning Mountain" in 1946, and "Arkansas" in 1947. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas to a wealthy family, he attended Harvard University after being pushed by his parents to study law, but left without graduating in 1907 to travel to Italy, starting a literary career. After numerous rejections from publishers, he financed his first five volumes of his poetry in 1913. Returning to the United States at the dawn of World War I, he traveled back and forth to Europe after the war. Between his two marriages, he was hospitalized with mental problems. His poetry painted a portrait of the South on various subjects from politics, religion to nature. His second wife was children's author Charlie May Hogue, who wrote under the name of Charlie May Simon. Returning to Little Rock in 1933, he was received as the poet laureate and premier intellectual in the state. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Arkansas, founded the Arkansas Folk Lore Society in 1935, and produced "The Story of Arkansas" for the state's centennial in 1936. He committed suicide by drowning in the pond near his home, "Johnswood," which is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pulitzer Prize Author. He received the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for his collection of poetry "Selected Poems," and was the first Southern poet to receive the prize. Other works include "The Epic of Arkansas" in 1936, "South Star" in 1941, "Life is My Song" in 1942, "The Burning Mountain" in 1946, and "Arkansas" in 1947. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas to a wealthy family, he attended Harvard University after being pushed by his parents to study law, but left without graduating in 1907 to travel to Italy, starting a literary career. After numerous rejections from publishers, he financed his first five volumes of his poetry in 1913. Returning to the United States at the dawn of World War I, he traveled back and forth to Europe after the war. Between his two marriages, he was hospitalized with mental problems. His poetry painted a portrait of the South on various subjects from politics, religion to nature. His second wife was children's author Charlie May Hogue, who wrote under the name of Charlie May Simon. Returning to Little Rock in 1933, he was received as the poet laureate and premier intellectual in the state. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Arkansas, founded the Arkansas Folk Lore Society in 1935, and produced "The Story of Arkansas" for the state's centennial in 1936. He committed suicide by drowning in the pond near his home, "Johnswood," which is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bio by: Linda Davis
Family Members
Spouse
Advertisement
See more Fletcher memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
