1894-1962

Biography

Popular 20th-century poet Edward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His name often appears in lowercase, echoing his poetry’s idiosyncratic typography. He attended Harvard, where he was exposed to the work of avant-garde writers like Gertrude Stein. Cummings drove an ambulance during World War I and was detained for over three months on suspicion of being a spy. Though his language is often playful, his work often covers subjects like sex, death, and war.

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