Author Description

Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1881-1941) was a Kentucky novelist and poet, primarily known for her novels and stories about the Kentucky mountain people. All of her writings are characterized by her distinct, rhythmic prose. While she was a major influence on Robert Penn Warren and a contemporary of the Southern Renaissance writers, Roberts has been neglected in recent years of critical attention. On the recommendation of a professor friend, Roberts enrolled as a freshman at the University of Chicago at the age of 36 in 1917, avidly studying literature and philosophy and fulfilling a lifelong dream of acquiring a college education. She graduated with honours in 1921 and was awarded the Fiske Prize for a group of poems she wrote which went on to be published as Under the Tree in 1922. Her public recognition was solidified by several major prizes she won toward the end of her life, including the John Reed Memorial Prize in 1928, an O. Henry Award in 1930, and the Poetry Society of South Carolina's prize in 1931. Her other works include; The Time of Man (1926), The Great Meadow (1930) and A Buried Treasure (1931).