A Live Tweetspeak Poetry Party with Sara Teasdale, Part 2

She didn’t live here her entire life, but St. Louis claims poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) as one of its own. 

The Teasdale family was well-to-do. Their first home was on Lindell Boulevard, in the area we call “midtown,” the intersection of Grand and Lindell boulevards. Today, the Grand Entertainment District is on the north side of Lindell and St Louis University is on the south. The Teasdale home was located on land that is now occupied by university buildings.

The family moved farther west to Kingsbury Place, a few blocks north of Forest Park. This area was being developed as an enclave of private streets before, during, and after the St. Louis World’s Fair. Teasdale’s house still stands; Kingsbury Place is still a beautiful street with large, well-maintained homes. (Not long ago, it was sold for $1.1 million.)

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Flame and Shadow: A Live Tweetspeak Poetry Party with Sara Teasdale, Part 1

In her lifetime, poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) was popular with the public and critics alike. Her third poetry collection, Rivers to the Sea (1915) was a bestseller; her fourth, Love Songs (1917), won what eventually was named the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Her final collection, Strange Victory (1933), was published after her death and was well-received by critics. 

Her poetry gradually fell out of critical favor. I read her poems in English literature textbooks in high school and college, but her work was fast disappearing by the 1980s. (Critics and scholars often get suspicious if something is popular with the public.) Recently, her work has begun to make something of a comeback, and rightfully so. 

And just in time for a live Tweetspeak Twitter party, but without Twitter. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.