Conrad+Aiken+(3rd+block)

 __Conrad Aiken (1889-1973) __  Conrad Aiken, a symbol of southern poems through the early years of 20th century America. From the earliest of beginnings (7th grade) Conrad Aikens has been acknowledged for his poetry. In fact one teacher from Harvard, George Santayana of his credited his workings so much that she became one of Conrad’s most commonly credited notes of inspiration. Another key inspiration for his writing was the death of his mother and father. His father killed Conrad’s mother and out of self grief shot himself. Conrad witnessed this and was moved to his aunt’s house in Massachusetts. After college he was in desperate search for work. He found a job as a small time poet; in 1912 he married to Jessie McDonald. When WWI broke out he posed as a business owner to avoid the draft. His writing career picked up soon after the war in 1929 when he wrote a book which was a selection of poems labeled __Selected Poems__ in 1930 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his workings on __Selected Poems__. He also won the national book award in 1953 for __Collection of poems__. In the 1920’s he moved from the United States to Europe for inspiration for novels. His parents’ death dragged on with him even in his older life, examples of this are in the stories __Strange Moonlight__, and __Secret Snow__. Aiken’s second wife wrote a story on how she saved her husband from suicide. This did not sell as well or was as popular as her husband’s poetry. At the start of WWII Conrad moved back to America. After that he didn’t make to many recognizable pieces of poetry. In 1952 he wrote an autobiography about his childhood in savannah GA. In 1965 he wrote a piece for time magazine, but that was his last creditable work.  