St. Louis, Missouri is a city with a proud literary heritage. From Maya Angelou to William Burroughs, Kate Chopin to T. S.
Eliot, and Naomi Shihab Nye to Marianne Moore, the city has been home to a surprising number of great writers. But St. Louis is more than just a birthplace for authors; it is also a cultural and culinary crossroads, with an ever-expanding organic and vegan offer, 81 microbreweries, and a variety of family-owned barbecues. It is also a place of struggle, with housing barriers, selective disinvestment, racial profiling, and violence still present in the city.
Despite its flaws, St. Louis remains an inspiring place for writers and readers alike. Becker · Aaron Belz · Cuesta Benberry · Robert Benecke · Graham Bensinger · Sally Benson · Jerry Berger are some of the authors from St. Louis who have made their mark on the literary world. Thomas Sterns Eliot was born in St.
Louis in 1888 to Marguerite Johnson in a privileged environment that had its flaws, including anti-Semitism. Despite this, Eliot's legacy was earned thanks to his outstanding and pioneering contribution to contemporary poetry, according to the Nobel Prize website about Eliot's 1948 victory in the literature category. Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis in 1928 and would become a cultural pioneer, poet, and civil rights activist who bravely wrote about her formative years (including her rape) in her first memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Martha Gellhorn was born in St.
Louis in 1908 and was a daring journalist and war correspondent whose mother was a famous suffragist. She would publish more than 20 books, mostly non-fiction but also some fiction. Kate Chopin was born in St. Louis in 1869 and became famous and infamous for her first feminist novel (The Awakening) which showed a married woman having a passionate affair. Although Chopin and her husband moved to Louisiana, where much of her fiction takes place, she was born in St.
Louis and returned after the death of her husband. Irma Rombauer was born in St. Louis in 1877 (his father was the famous doctor Max Starkoff), but he was not known for his cooking. After her husband committed suicide in 1930, Rombauer decided to write a cookbook which became famous above all for its conversational style and voice - The Joy of Cooking. Fred and Patricia McKissack published more than 100 books for children, most of them about the life and history of African Americans. These authors are all clear candidates for their own star on the city's Walk of Fame on Delmar Boulevard; 19 poets and writers from St.
Louis have already been awarded one. You can also pay your respects to Burroughs at St. Louis's Bellefontaine Cemetery; and to Chopin and Tennessee Williams at Calvary Cemetery next door. St. Louis is also home to hundreds of acclaimed visiting and local writers each year who deliver readings, generous Q&A sessions, and sign books at bookstores, libraries, art spaces, and universities across the city.
Jo Ann Beard, Amy Bloom, Jericho Brown, Roxane Gay, Terrance Hayes, Eileen Myles, Treasure Shields Redmond and Alison C. Rollins are just some of the writers who have visited over the past two years. The city is also a feast for lovers of architectural history from the grandeur of the Gilded Age to Eero Saarinen's modernist masterpiece - the Gateway Arch - as well as Forest Park which is larger than New York's Central Park! With 450 acres of wild savannas and forest trails it is an ideal place for running or biking or just strolling like Thoreau. With an equal share of Western, Midwestern and Southern identity and cuisine St. Louis has a vibrant café and gastropub culture as well as being surrounded by agriculture with an ever-expanding organic and vegan offer; but barbecue and beer still reign supreme! While it was home to the gigantic Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co., St. Louis can also satisfy your thirst for craft beers with 81 microbreweries. Living here as a writer is a lesson in how much there is to learn and savor; how many stories are still to be connected; how much history there is to be aware of; how many wounds are still healing; how much transformation is still taking place - all part of an ongoing struggle that every writer should pay attention to.
Louis has long been known as an inspiring place for writers due to its rich literary heritage that includes renowned authors such as Maya Angelou, William Burroughs, Kate Chopin, T. Eliot, Naomi Shihab Nye, Marianne Moore, Martha Gellhorn, Irma Rombauer Fred McKissack Patricia McKissack among others who have made their mark on the literary world with their works that have been recognized worldwide with awards such as Nobel Prize for Literature given to Thomas Sterns Eliot in 1948 for his outstanding contribution to contemporary poetry. The city is also home to hundreds of acclaimed visiting and local writers each year who deliver readings at bookstores libraries art spaces universities across the city such as Jo Ann Beard Amy Bloom Jericho Brown Roxane Gay Terrance Hayes Eileen Myles Treasure Shields Redmond Alison C Rollins among others. St. Louis is not only known for its literary heritage but also for its cultural culinary crossroads with an ever-expanding organic vegan offer 81 microbreweries variety of family-owned barbecues architectural history from grandeur Gilded Age Eero Saarinen's modernist masterpiece Gateway Arch Forest Park larger than New York's Central Park 450 acres wild savannas forest trails ideal place running biking strolling like Thoreau equal share Western Midwestern Southern identity cuisine vibrant café gastropub culture surrounded by agriculture. Despite its flaws housing barriers selective disinvestment racial profiling violence still present in the city 19 poets writers from St. Louis have already been awarded star on city's Walk Fame Delmar Boulevard visitors can pay respects Burroughs Bellefontaine Cemetery Chopin Tennessee Williams Calvary Cemetery next door all part ongoing struggle every writer should pay attention. In conclusion St.
Louis remains an inspiring place for writers readers alike with its rich literary heritage cultural culinary crossroads architectural history vibrant café gastropub culture ongoing struggle every writer should pay attention making it one most unique cities world.
