Literature Chicago

chicago literature finds roots in city s tradition of lucid, direct journalism, lending strong tradition of social realism. in encyclopedia of chicago, northwestern university professor bill savage describes chicago fiction prose tries capture essence of city, spaces , people . challenge writers chicago frontier outpost transformed global metropolis in span of 2 generations. narrative fiction of time, of in style of high-flown romance , genteel realism , needed new approach describe urban social, political, , economic conditions of chicago. nonetheless, chicagoans worked hard create literary tradition stand test of time, , create city of feeling out of concrete, steel, vast lake, , open prairie. notable chicago fiction focuses on city itself, social criticism keeping exultation in check.

at least, 3 short periods in history of chicago have had lasting influence on american literature. these include time of great chicago fire 1900, became known chicago literary renaissance in 1910s , 1920s, , period of great depression through 1940s.

what become influential poetry magazine founded in 1912 harriet monroe, working art critic chicago tribune. magazine discovered such poets gwendolyn brooks, james merrill, , john ashbery. t. s. eliot s first professionally published poem, love song of j. alfred prufrock , first published poetry. contributors have included ezra pound, william butler yeats, william carlos williams, langston hughes, , carl sandburg, among others. magazine instrumental in launching imagist , objectivist poetic movements.