Conrad Aiken Summary

Biography EssayConrad Aiken's long and productive literary career has prompted such descriptions of him as "the buried giant of twentieth-century American writing" (Malcolm Cowley), "the best known un... Read more

Conrad Potter Aiken was born in Savannah, Georgia, the eldest of three sons born to William and Anna Aiken. His father was a brilliant Harvard-trained physician and surgeon, his mother the daughter of... Read more

Conrad Aiken 's works--twenty-six volumes of poetry, five novels, forty-one short stories, two volumes of criticism, and one play--present a range of achievement that made him "one of the few genuine ... Read more

In the following essay, Brown discusses the musical techniques that Aiken used in his early poetry and remarks that unlike many other poets who claim to rely on music, Aiken does so extensively and ac... Read more

In the following essay, Aldrich examines Aiken's poetry and prose, but speaks of him particularly in terms of a poet who sees and responds to a dual world—the interior, individualized li... Read more

In the following interview with Conrad Aiken, Wilbur questions the poet regarding his friendships with other writers, such as T. S. Eliot and Malcolm Lowry, discusses with Aiken his poetic theory, and... Read more

In the following essay, Marten looks at three of Aiken's poems written in the 1940s after the poet had returned to the U.S. from England and contends that through these poems Aiken succeeded in... Read more

In the following essay, Hagenbüchle asserts that the focus of Aiken's poetry is the relationship between the individual and the world and the difficulty of expressing that relationship. ... Read more

Critical Essay by Carolyn Handa Conrad Aiken remains firmly established in his exalted position as one of America's most neglected contemporary writers. (p. 375) Artistically, [Aiken'... Read more

Critical Essay by Malcolm Cowley [Aiken] was a poet essentially, but he was also the complete man of letters, distinguished for his work in many forms of verse and prose. The unity was there, however... Read more