Karle Wilson Baker

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Karle Wilson Baker
Born October 13, 1878
Little Rock, Arkansas
Died 1960
Pen name Charlotte Wilson
Occupation teacher, poet, writer
Nationality American
Writing period 20th century

(Mrs.) Karle Wilson Baker (1878-1960) was an American poet and author, born at Little Rock, Ark. to Kate Florence Montgomery Wilson and William Thomas Murphey Wilson, and educated at the University of Chicago, where she studied under poet William Vaughn Moody and novelist Robert Herrick[1]. In spite of the frequent mordant bits, her poems have visions of real beauty. Under the pseudonym of "Charlotte Wilson," she was co-author of Women and Prisons (1912), published in London by the Fabian Society. She contributed fiction and poetry to Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, Yale Review, The Century, etc., and is the author of Blue Smoke, poems (1919), The Garden of the Plynck (1920), The Burning Bush (1920), etc.

In 1893, Baker decided to add a final "e" to the end of her first name in order to better avoid the gender confusions with her name. Yet, despite this change, her name continued to be mistaken as a man's by fans and reviewers of her writings.[2]

In 1900, Baker first visited Nacogdoches, Texas to see her parents. Later, in 1906, she permanently moved from Little Rock, Arkansas, where she had been teaching school, to Nacogdoches. There, she fell in love with the beauty of the surrounding nature, which she would later describe in her book, The Birds of Tanglewood. At Nacogdoches, she also met her future husband, Thomas Ellis Baker, and the two married in 1907[3].

From 1924 to 1934, she became a teacher in Nacogdoches, teaching contemporary poetry at Stephen F. Austin University(SFA). In fact, when her poem titled "The Pine Tree Hymn" was written, it also became adopted as the school song. In addition to her teaching career, during this time, she also published three more books: The Birds of Tanglewood, Dreamers on Horseback(her last book of collected poems), Family Style.

Soon known as one of Texas' most talented writers, Baker received the most recognition and honors of any female poet in Texas during the 20th century[4]. As a member of the Institute of Letters, the Poetry Society of Texas, and the Philosophical Society of Texas, she was also the first female and third person to be named a Fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters[5]. Her accomplishments included having had her first four books published by the Yale University Press, being awarded with an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the Southern Methodist University in 1924, and being nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1931. She was 82 years old when she died in 1960.

Contents

[edit] Poems

[edit] Texas Woman of Letters, Karle Wilson Baker

Written by author Sarah Ragland Jackson, this biography describes Karle Wilson Baker's life as a remarkable Texas poet of the 20th century, but whose important contributions to Texas literature have been overshadowed by her male contemporaries. Published in December of 2005, this book provides thorough well-researched details on Baker's life and gives readers more of an insight to Karle Wilson Baker's challenge in making her way into the mainly male-dominated literary world at that time.
Link: http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2005/jacksonwoman.htm

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Poetry X » Poetry Archives » Karle Wilson Baker » "Biography"
  2. ^ Poetry X » Poetry Archives » Karle Wilson Baker » "Biography"
  3. ^ the biography of Karle Wilson Baker - life story
  4. ^ Local poet, author to be honored with historic marker
  5. ^ "Local poet, author to be honored with historic marker" [1]
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