Encyclopedia of the Chicago Literary Renaissance

Abstract

The Chicago Renaissance began in the early 1900s and lasted until approximately 1930. The leading writers of the period - including Theodore Dreiser (Sister Carrie), Sherwood Anderson (Winesburg, Ohio), Edgar Lee Masters (Spoon River Anthology), and Carl Sandburg (Chicago Poems) - focused on the increasing industrialization of American society as well as the loss of traditional rural values and their accompanying romantic ideals. The period also marked the emergence of journalism as a literary medium. The magazines Poetry, founded by Harriet Monroe, and Little Review, founded by Margaret Anderson, emerged at this time, as did the Little Theatre. All provided outlets for new and experimental voices that moved beyond the regionalist style of the late 19th century to explore realism and naturalism. Encyclopedia of the Chicago Literary Renaissance is the only comprehensive reference to this important American literary movement and the writers and other major figures associated with it. Containing several hundred authoritative entries covering all aspects of the Chicago Renaissance, this A-to-Z reference provides a detailed look at a group of writers and poets with ties to Chicago whose influence spread throughout the United States and whose visionary works revolutionized American literature in the early part of the 20th century. The book also includes black-and-white illustrations, a chronology, a bibliography, cross-references, and an index.