Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an eminent American poet, biographer, and dramatist best known for his "Spoon River Anthology." Born in Garnett, Kansas, and raised in the small town of Petersburg, Illinois, Masters began his career as a lawyer in Chicago, while writing in his spare time. His major breakthrough came in 1915 with "Spoon River Anthology," a collection of free-verse epitaphs narrating the lives and secrets of residents in a fictional small town. Drawing on the form of graveyard poetry, the anthology candidly exposed the dark undercurrents of small-town life and garnered widespread acclaim for its originality and emotional depth.

Masters' success with "Spoon River Anthology" catapulted him to literary fame, yet subsequent works including "The New Spoon River" and "Domesday Book" never matched its impact. Throughout his life, Masters published over 50 works including poetry, plays, and biographies of notable figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman. Despite personal struggles and financial difficulties later in life, he continued to write until his death in 1950. Today, Edgar Lee Masters is remembered primarily for his pioneering contribution to American poetry and for his incisive exploration of the human condition.