…and their amazing lives Five Amazing Poets …and their amazing lives

Pablo Neruda  Born Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto on July 12, 1904 Grew up in Chile He began his career writing for La Manana, a local Chilean newspaper, when he was only 13! In 1920, he began writing under the pen name Pablo Neruda,  in honor of Czech poet Jan Neruda.

Pablo Neruda Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair) was published in 1924.  Twenty Love Poems made Neruda a celebrity, and he thereafter devoted himself to his poetry.  The Spanish Civil War in 1936 changed Neruda's life. He sympathized with the loyalists against General Franco, and reported events, including the brutal murder of García Lorca in Espana en el Corazon.

Pablo Neruda In 1943, he joined the Communist party and was elected to the Senate. He was a supporter of Stalin and Castro. When the Chilean government named the Communist party illegal, Neruda was expelled from the Senate. He hid in the mountains of Argentina and traveled Europe and the Americas. In 1952, the Chilean government reversed their position on leftist politics, and Neruda was allowed back in the country.

Pablo Neruda He was married three times. His third wife, Matilde Urrutia, he acclaimed as his muse. He continued to write poetry for the next 21 years. He won the International Peace Prize in 1950, the Lenin Peace Prize and the Stalin Peace Prize in 1953, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-22027787

Maya Angelou Dr. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, she was raised in Arkansas. Growing up in the South, she experienced brutal racism, but she had an unshakable spirit. She studied dance and drama at San Francisco’s Labor School. At 14, she dropped out to become San Francisco’s first African-American female cable car conductor. She later finished high school, giving birth to her son, Guy, a few weeks after graduation.

Maya Angelou As a young single mother, she supported her son by working as a waitress and cook, however her passion for music, dance, performance, and poetry would soon take center stage. In 1954 and 1955, Dr. Angelou toured Europe with a production of the opera Porgy and Bess. In 1957, she recorded her first album, Calypso Lady. In 1958, she moved to New York, where she joined the Harlem Writers Guild.

Maya Angelou Dr. Angelou studied for years abroad, and, in doing so, mastered French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and the West African language Fanti. While in Ghana, she met with Malcom X and, in 1964, returned to America to help him build his new Organization of African American Unity. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked Dr. Angelou to serve as Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King was assassinated on her birthday in 1968, and she was left devastated.

Maya Angelou Published in 1970, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published to international acclaim and enormous popular success. The list of her published verse, non-fiction, and fiction now includes more than 30 bestselling titles. Dr. Angelou has served on two presidential committees, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008, and has received 3 Grammy Awards. In 1993, she wrote a poem for President Clinton’s inauguration. On May 28, 2014 she died in her sleep of old age. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=maya+angelou+bio&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=0FB8712278A6078095DC0FB8712278A6078095DC

Sylvia Plath Born in 1932 to middle class parents in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Sylvia Plath published her first poem at the age of eight. She won a scholarship to Smith College in 1950 and while at Smith, she wrote over four hundred poems. She was a very popular girl and a straight “A” student, but the death of her father when she was eight left her with a weighing depression. During the summer after her junior year in college, Sylvia made her first (and almost successful) attempt at suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. The experience is described in her autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, published in 1963.

Sylvia Plath After undergoing electroshock and psychotherapy treatments, she once again pursued academic and literary success, graduating from Smith summa cum laude in 1955. She then received a scholarship to study in England at Cambridge University. In 1956, she married Ted Hughes, a famous English poet. In 1960, at the age of twenty-eight, she published her first book, The Colossus in England.

Sylvia Plath On April 1, 1960, their first child, Frieda Rebecca, was born. Her second pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. Soon after, she became pregnant again, and gave birth to a son named Nicholas. She continued to write hundreds of poems. On February 11, 1963, Plath took her own life. She placed her head in a gas oven after completely sealing the rooms between herself and her children. She left a note for the man who lived downstairs, Trevor Thomas, to call her doctor. http://www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550

Rudyard Kipling Kipling is an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865 in Bombay, in British India. When Kipling was five years old, as was the custom in British India at the time, he was taken to live with a couple who boarded the children of British nationals serving in India. As an adult, he writes negative accounts of his six years spent there as a child.

Rudyard Kipling In 1886 he published his first collection of verse, Departmental Ditties. Kipling received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He was the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and to date he remains its youngest recipient.  Kipling is best known for his works of fiction, including The Jungle Book, Just So Stories, Kim, many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King.” Some of his poems include: “Mandalay,” “Gunga Din,” “The White Man's Burden” and “If—.”

Rudyard Kipling On March 9, 1889, Kipling left India, travelling first to San Francisco via Rangoon, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. He then travelled through the United States, writing articles for The Pioneer, and, in his travels, he met Mark Twain. On January 18, 1892, Carrie Balestier (aged 29) and Rudyard Kipling (aged 26) were married in London. Henry James, another famous author of the time gave the bride away. 

Rudyard Kipling Kipling was a big supporter of the United Kingdom’s forces in World War I. However, Kipling's son John died in World War I, at the Battle of Loos in September 1915, at age 18. After his son's death, Kipling wrote, "If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied." It is speculated that these words may reveal his feelings of guilt at his role in getting John a commission in the Irish Guards.  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeaml4_rudyard-kipling-biography_tech

William Shakespeare Though William Shakespeare is recognized as one of literature’s greatest influences, very little is actually known about him. What we do know about his life comes from registrar records, court records, wills, marriage certificates and his tombstone. Anecdotes and criticisms by his rivals also speak of the famous playwright and suggest that he was indeed a playwright, poet and an actor

William Shakespeare William was born in 1564. His baptism was on Wednesday, April the 26th, 1564. We don’t actually know his birthday, but from this record, we assume he was born in 1564. By knowing his baptism date, we can guess that he was born three days earlier on St. George’s day, though we have no conclusive proof of this. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and 37 plays according to historical evidence and other accounts. However, there is speculation that he did not actually write all of these works, and he was just a successful businessman who capitalized on the works he came across.

William Shakespeare However, there is at least one piece of evidence to support that Shakespeare wrote all of his own work. In the First Folio (1623) Henry Condell and John Hemminges, who were actors in the Bard's theatre company, dedicate a memorial to the late actor and playwright, crediting him with his accomplishments. In terms of value, the First Folio originally was sold for just 1 Pound in 1623. Today as one of just 250 still in existence, it would fetch nearly 3 million dollars (US). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHM7DhqTpE

Works Cited www.poemhunter.com/rudyard-kipling/ www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/ www.biography.com/people/pablo-neruda-9421737?page=1 http://mayaangelou.com/bio/ www.biography.com/people/rudyard-kipling-9365581 www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323 www.biography.com/people/sylvia-plath-9442550