EDGAR ALLAN POE

Who was Edgar Allan Poe?

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809, to October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, critic and editor. He is best known for his short stories and poems that captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world. His imaginative storytelling and tales of mystery and horror eventually led to the modern detective story. Many of Poe’s works, including The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher, are literary classics.

Family and Early Life

Poe never really knew his parents. His mother was a British actress and his father was an actor who was born in Baltimore. His father left the family early in Poe's life, and his mother passed away from lung disease when he was only three years old. Poe went to live with John and Frances Valentine Allan, a successful tobacco merchant and his wife, in Richmond, Virginia. Edgar and Frances seemed to form a bond. Poe went to the University of Virginia in 1826, where he excelled in his classes. However, he didn't receive enough money to cover all of his costs. Heartbroken and frustrated, Poe moved to Boston.

 

Edgar Allan Poe's Poems, Short Stories and Books

Poe self-published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, in 1827. His second poetry collection, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems, was published in 1829. As a critic at the Southern Literary Messenger, in Richmond, from 1835 to 1837, Poe published some of his own works in the magazine, including two parts of his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. In the late 1830s, Poe published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, a collection of short stories. Then, in 1841, Poe launched the new genre of detective fiction with The Murders in the Rue Morgue. His literary innovations earned him the nickname ‘Father of Detective Story’.