Marianne Moore was born in 1887 in St. Louis Missouri. She was raised in the home of her Presbyterian pastor grandfather. In 1894 she moved with her family to Pennsylvania, and graduated with a BA from Bryn Mawr College in 1909.
Expectations of women at the time were limited and she studied typing and commere, and then worked as a teacher. In 1918 she moved with her mother to New York City. She began to meet other poets, such as William Carlos Williams and had poems accepted in literary publications like ‘The Dial’. She was later to work as its literary editor, from 1925 to 1929.
Her poems were also published in the English magazine, ‘The Egoist’ and her first book of poems was published in 1921.
Moore’s poetry was widely admired and she was awarded, amongst other honors, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. She was essentially a modernist, and her style was concise and condensed, and incorporated a wide range of imagery and imaginative associations.
Marianne Moore died in New York City on February 5, 1972.
