born Aug. 23, 1869, Garnett, Kan., U.S.
died March 5, 1950, Philadelphia, Pa.
U.S. poet and novelist.
He grew up on his grandfather's farm and became a lawyer in Chicago. He wrote undistinguished poetry and plays before publishing Spoon River Anthology (1915), his major work. Its 245 free-verse epitaphs in the form of monologues are spoken from the grave by the former inhabitants of a fictitious small town, who tell of their bitter, unfulfilled lives in its dreary confines.
Edgar Lee Masters
By courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; photograph, Arnold Genthe