American Modernist Writers: Home

Ezra Pound

Photo by Alvin, Langdon Coburn, 1922. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons

H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)

Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/h-d

"Make it new!" This exhortation by the American poet Ezra Pound sums up the Modernist agenda in one short phrase.

Acccording to the Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th edition:   

Modernism is… best understood as an epoch of radical cultural upheaval which flourished predominantly in Europe and the USA from, arguably,   around the last quarter of the 19th century to, no less debatably, around the start of the Second World War. [Modernism] represent[s] modernist culture's uncompromising confrontation with and sense of severance from the conventions and tastes of both mass society and the governing elite and its determination to rebuild and renew the arts.

For a more in-depth overview of "Modernism," what it was, and how it manifested itself in architecture, music, dance, and literature, click the link directly below to read about it from the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics.

Read the "Modernism" overview.

This webpage is designed to assist the researcher, whether undergraduate, graduate student, or faculty member in finding information available through the Gumberg Library on American Modernist authors ant their works. It directs users to:

• Reference works, both print and electronic, great for learning the basics about a topic
• Books, by and about these authors and their work, as well as themes related to modernist literature, from the QuickSearch online catalog
• Periodical databases giving access to citations to articles, popular and scholarly (many in full-text)
• High-quality websites
• Information on citation
• Information on how to get materials from other libraries

Use the tabs at the top of the screen to access the various sorts of information.

Help is Available!

If at any time in your research your need help, click Ask Gumberg. Or you can contact me, Ted Bergfelt, the creator of this page. Click to Send Email, or phone me at 412.396.5351. 

The artwork in the banner images at top and bottom of most pages is a detail from the work Composition A, by Piet Mondrian, painted in 1920. It is in the public domain in the US, because it was created before 1926. Source: Wikimedia Commons. While Mondrian was born in the Netherlands, he spent the last years of his life in the United States.

T.S. Eliot

Eliot in 1934. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Richard Wright

Photo by Carl Van Vechten. Library of Congress. Source: Wikimedia Commons