Marianne Moore

Marianne Moore was born on November 15, 1887, in Kirkwood, Missouri. She was born in her grandfather's house. Her grandfather was a church pastor. Her parents were John and Mary Moore. Marianne grew up in a home with her mom, her grandfather, and her family.

When Marianne was little, her grandfather died. Her family moved a few times. In 1896, they settled in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Marianne went to school there. She loved looking closely at animals and things around her. She wrote down small details about everything she saw. This habit helped her become a great poet later.

In 1905, Marianne went to a college called Bryn Mawr. She studied biology, which is the study of living things. She graduated in 1909. Studying science taught her to look closely and be very exact. This skill helped her write poems later. At college, she also wrote her first poems and met other writers, like a woman named H.D., who became a lifelong friend.

After college, Marianne learned to type and do office work. From 1911 to 1915, she taught typing and bookkeeping at a school for Native American children. This job taught her about different cultures.

In 1915, Marianne's poems were published in magazines for the first time. In 1918, she and her mother moved to New York City. In 1921, Marianne got a job at the New York Public Library. She met many famous writers there. She became known for her unusual and careful poems.

In 1925, Marianne became the editor of a magazine called The Dial. She worked there until 1929. She helped choose which poems and stories to publish. This was a big deal because most editors back then were men.

Marianne wrote many books of poems. Her first book, called Poems, came out in 1921. Her friends published it without telling her first! Her next book, Observations, came out in 1924 and made her famous. She wrote more books over the years, including her Collected Poems in 1951. This book had some of her best poems, like "The Fish" and "The Steeple-Jack."

Marianne won many awards for her poetry. In 1951, she won the Bollingen Prize. In 1952, she won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Poems. Winning all three awards was called a "triple crown."

Marianne never got married. She lived with her mother for most of her life. They were very close. Marianne wrote letters to many famous poets and helped younger poets too.

Marianne loved baseball. In 1968, when she was 80 years old, she threw the first pitch at a New York Yankees game! People loved seeing a famous poet enjoy something so fun and ordinary.

Marianne Moore died on February 5, 1972, in New York City. She was 84 years old. Today, people still read her poems in schools. She is remembered as one of the most important poets of her time. She showed that women could be great poets and leaders in the world of books.