Editing Conrad Aiken (section)

== Biography ==

===Early years===
[[File:Oscar Dibble House.jpg|thumb|228 [[Oglethorpe Avenue|East Oglethorpe Avenue]] in [[Savannah, Georgia]]]]
Aiken was the eldest son of William Ford and Anna (Potter) Aiken. In Savannah, Aiken's father became a respected physician and eye surgeon, while his mother was the daughter of a prominent Massachusetts Unitarian minister.<ref name="Conrad Aiken" /> For the first eleven years of Aiken's life, his family lived at 228 [[Oglethorpe Avenue|East Oglethorpe Avenue]] in Savannah.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Oct 26, 1994, page 41 - the Atlanta Constitution at Atlanta Journal Constitution|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution |date=October 26, 1994 |page=41 |url=https://ajc.newspapers.com/image/403711978/ |access-date=March 28, 2024}}</ref>

On February 27, 1901, William Ford Aiken murdered his wife and then committed suicide. According to his 1952 autobiography, ''Ushant'', Aiken, then 11 years old, heard the two gunshots and discovered the bodies immediately thereafter.<ref name="PoetryFoundation">{{cite web |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/conrad-aiken |title=Conrad Aiken |website=Poetry Foundation.org |publisher=Poetry Foundation |access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> After his parents' deaths, he was raised by his great-aunt and uncle in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], attending [[Middlesex School]], then [[Harvard University]].<ref name="Conrad Aiken" />

At Harvard, Aiken edited the ''[[The Harvard Advocate|Advocate]]'' with [[T. S. Eliot]], who became a lifelong friend, colleague, and influence.<ref name="AcademyPoets">{{cite web |url=https://poets.org/poet/conrad-aiken |title=About Conrad Aiken |website=Poets.org |publisher=Academy of American Poets |access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> It was also at Harvard where Aiken studied under another significant influence in his writing, the philosopher [[George Santayana]].<ref name="PoetryFoundation" />

===Adult years===
Aiken was strongly influenced by [[Symbolism (arts)|symbolism]], especially in his earlier works. In 1930 he received the [[Pulitzer Prize for Poetry]] for his ''Selected Poems''. Many of his writings had strong psychological themes. He wrote the widely anthologized short story "[[Silent Snow, Secret Snow]]" (1934), partially based on his childhood tragedy.<ref name="AcademyPoets" />

Other influences were Aiken's grandfather, Potter, who had been a church preacher, as well as Whitman's freestyle poetry. This helped Aiken shape his poetry more freely while his recognition of a God grounded his more visually rich explorations into the universe. Some of his best-known poetry, such as "Morning Song from Senlin", uses these influences to great effect.

His collections of verse include ''Earth Triumphant'' (1914), ''The Charnel Rose'' (1918) and ''And In the Hanging Gardens'' (1933). His poem "Music I Heard" has been set to music by a number of composers, including [[Leonard Bernstein]], [[Henry Cowell]], and [[Helen Searles Westbrook]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Office |first=Library of Congress Copyright |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MTohAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA155 |title=Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series |year=1956}}</ref> Aiken wrote or edited more than 51 books, the first of which was published in 1914, two years after his graduation from Harvard. His work includes novels, short stories (''The Collected Short Stories'' appeared in 1961), reviews, an autobiography, and poetry. He received numerous awards and honors for his writing, though for most of his lifetime, he received little public attention.<ref name="PoetryFoundation" />

Though Aiken was reluctant to speak of his early trauma and ensuing psychological problems, he acknowledged that his writings were strongly influenced by his studies of [[Sigmund Freud]], [[Carl G. Jung]], [[Otto Rank]], Ferenczi, Adler, and other [[depth psychology|depth psychologists]]. It was not until the publication of his autobiography, ''Ushant'', that Aiken revealed the emotional challenges that he had battled for much of his adult life. During the 1920s Freud heard of him and offered to psychoanalyze him. While aboard a Europe-bound ship to meet with Freud, Aiken was discouraged by [[Erich Fromm]] from accepting the offer. Consequently, despite Freud's strong influence on Aiken, Aiken never met the noted psychoanalyst.<ref name="Conrad Aiken" /> As he later said, "Freud had read ''Great Circle'', and I'm told kept a copy on his office table. But I didn't go, though I started to. Misgivings set in, and so did poverty."<ref name="ParisReview">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4283/the-art-of-poetry-no-9-conrad-aiken |title=Conrad Aiken, The Art of Poetry No. 9 |last=Wilbur |first=Robert Hunter |date=1968 |volume=Winter-Spring 1968 |issue=42 |magazine=The Paris Review |access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref>

===Personal life===
Aiken had three younger siblings, Kempton Potter (K. P. A. Taylor), Robert Potter (R. P. A. Taylor), and Elizabeth. After their parents' deaths, the four children were adopted by [[Frederick Winslow Taylor]] and his wife Louise, their great-aunt. His siblings took Taylor's last name. Kempton helped establish the [[Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry]].

He was married three times: firstly to Jessie McDonald (1912–1929); secondly to Clarissa Lorenz (1930–1937) (author of a biography, ''Lorelei Two''); and thirdly to the painter [[Mary Hoover Aiken|Mary Hoover]] (1937–1973).<ref name="AcademyPoets" /> He fathered three children by his first wife Jessie: John Aiken, [[Jane Aiken Hodge]] and [[Joan Aiken]], all of whom became writers. Over the years, he served ''[[in loco parentis]]'' as well as mentor to the English author [[Malcolm Lowry]].<ref>{{cite book |author=David Markson |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmlowrysvol00mark |title=Malcolm Lowry's Volcano: Myth, Symbol, Meaning |date=1978 |quote=A case in point involved Aiken, who had filled an ''in loco parentis'' role for [Lowry] in his youth... |page=224|publisher=Times Books |isbn=978-0-8129-0751-3 }}</ref>

Aiken married Jessie McDonald in 1912, and the couple moved to England in 1921 with their older two children; John (born 1913) and Jane (born 1917), settling in [[Rye, East Sussex]] (where the American novelist [[Henry James]] had once lived).<ref>{{cite book |last=Nash |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Nash (artist) |title=Outline, an Autobiography: And Other Writings |publisher=Faber & Faber |edition=1st |year=1949 |page=220}}</ref> The couple's youngest daughter, Joan, was born in Rye in 1924. Conrad Aiken returned to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], as a tutor at Harvard from 1927 to 1928. For many years, he divided his time between Rye, New York, and Boston.<ref name="Harvard">{{cite web |url=https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/conrad-aiken-unitarian-prodigy-poet/ |title=Aiken, Conrad(1889-1973) |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=HarvardSquareLibrary.org |publisher=Harvard Square Library |access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> In 1931 he was introduced by the artist [[Paul Nash (artist)|Paul Nash]] to [[Edward Burra]], a painter also living in Rye. That year Burra painted his [[gouache]] "John Deth", inspired by Aiken's poem of that name and originally intended to illustrate a projected edition that was never realized. Nevertheless, the two men maintained a lifelong friendship thereafter.<ref>''Edward Burra'', Arts Council of Great Britain (1985), pp. 95-97.</ref>

In 1936, Aiken met his third wife, Mary, in Boston. In the following year the couple visited Malcolm Lowry in [[Cuernavaca]], Mexico, where Aiken divorced Clarissa and married Mary. The couple moved to Rye, where they remained until the outbreak of [[World War II]] in 1940. The Aikens settled in [[Brewster, Massachusetts]], on [[Cape Cod]], where he and his wife Mary later ran a summer program for writers and painters named after their antique farmhouse, "Forty-One Doors".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=finding_aids|title=Maxwell Library, Archives & Special Collections, Conrad Aiken Collection |last=Kingsley |first=Orson |date=October 24, 2016 |website=Bridgewater.edu |publisher=[[Bridgewater State University]] |access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> Despite living for many years abroad and receiving recognition as a Southern writer, Aiken always considered himself an American, and, in particular, a New Englander.<ref name="ParisReview" />

In 1923, he acted as a witness at the marriage of his friend, poet [[W. H. Davies]]. From 1950 to 1952, he served as [[Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress]], more commonly known as Poet Laureate of the United States. In 1960, he visited [[Grasmere (village)|Grasmere]] in the [[Lake District]], England (once the home of [[William Wordsworth]]), with his friend Edward Burra.<ref>Arts Council, Hayward Gallery Catalogue, 1985</ref>

[[Image:ConradAikenBench.jpg|thumb|220px|Bench at grave of Conrad Aiken in [[Bonaventure Cemetery]] in Savannah, Georgia]]
The Aikens lived primarily at their farmhouse in West Brewster and wintered in Savannah in a home adjacent to his early childhood house.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-mary-hoover-aiken-1559685.html |title=Obituary: Mary Hoover Aiken |last=Killorin |first=Joseph |date=October 26, 1992 |work=The Independent |access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref>

Aiken died on 17 August 1973, aged 84, and was buried in [[Bonaventure Cemetery]] in [[Savannah, Georgia]], on the banks of the [[Wilmington River (Georgia)|Wilmington River]]. His widow was buried beside him after her death in 1992. The burial site was featured in ''[[Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil]]'' by [[John Berendt]]. According to local legend, Aiken wished to have his tombstone fashioned in the shape of a bench as an invitation to visitors to stop and enjoy a martini at his grave. The bench is inscribed with "Give my love to the world" and "Cosmos Mariner—Destination Unknown".

A primary source for information on Aiken's life is his autobiographical novel ''Ushant'' (1952), one of his major works. In it, he wrote candidly about his various affairs and marriages, his attempted suicide and fear of insanity, and his friendships with T. S. Eliot (who appears in the book as the Tsetse), [[Ezra Pound]] (Rabbi Ben Ezra), [[Malcolm Lowry]] (Hambo), and others.