Aiken, Conrad (ā`kĭn), 1889–1973, American author, b. Savannah, Ga., grad. Harvard, 1912. Aiken is best known for his poetry, which often is preoccupied with the sound and structure of music; his volumes of verse include The Charnel Rose (1918), Selected Poems (1929; Pulitzer Prize), Brownstone Eclogues (1942), Collected Poems (1953), A Letter from Li Po (1956), A Seizure of Limericks (1964), and The Clerk's Journal (1971). In 1924 he edited Emily Dickinson's Selected Poems, which established her literary reputation. Aiken's interest in psychopathology is evident in the novels Blue Voyage (1927) and Great Circle (1933). His collected critical essays, A Reviewer's ABC, appeared in 1958, his collected short stories—including "Mr. Arcularis" and "Silent Snow, Secret Snow"—in 1961. Aiken held (1950–57) the poetry chair at the Library of Congress and was awarded the National Medal for Literature (1969).

Bibliography

See his autobiography, Ushant (1952, repr. 1971); biography by J. Martin (1962).

Aiken, Conrad (Potter)

(born Aug. 5, 1889, Savannah, Ga., U.S.—died Aug. 17, 1973, Savannah) U.S. writer. Aiken was traumatized as a child when his father killed Aiken's mother and then himself. Educated at Harvard University, Aiken wrote most of his fiction in the 1920s and '30s. His works are influenced by early psychoanalytic theory. Generally more successful than his novels were his short stories, notably “Strange Moonlight” from Bring! Bring! (1925) and “Silent Snow, Secret Snow” and “Mr. Arcularis” from Among the Lost People (1934). His best poetry, including “Preludes to Definition,” is in his Collected Poems (1953).

Aiken, Conrad (Potter) (Samuel Jeake, Jr., pen name) (1889–1973) poet, writer; born in Savannah, Ga. He was raised in Cambridge, Mass., attended Harvard (B.A. 1907–12), lived in England for various periods, and settled in Brewster, Mass. (1940). He wrote for leading periodicals, and was noted for his rather difficult poetry, such as The Preludes for Memmon (1931), and for his demanding novels and short stories.