Edgar Allan Poe was the inventor of detective fiction and a writer of great poetry. He wrote ‘The Raven’, which became a milestone in American poetry. Poe is a key figure of American Romanticism.
Poe was born on January 19th, 1809. Both his parents were actors. His mother Elizabeth Arnold Poe was English by birth while his father David Poe was from Baltimore. Poe studied in the University of Virginia for eleven months before dropping out.
‘Al Aaraaf’, ‘Tamerlane; and Minor Poems’, a collection of his poetry, was published in 1829 at Baltimore.
Poe was a distinguished short story writer. ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, are some of his famous stories.
Poe’s works exerted a huge influence on American literature. The Edgar Award is an annual award instituted by The Mystery Writers of America to honour the author of the best tale of mystery.
Edgar Allan Poe passed away in 1849.