Conrad Aiken (1889-1973)

A selective list of online literary criticism for the American poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist Conrad Aiken, favoring signed scholarly articles and articles from peer-reviewed sources

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introduction

"Conrad Aiken." A brief introduction to Conrad Aiken. Academy of American Poets.

"Conrad Aiken." Poetry Foundation. Encyclopedia-type introduction to Conrad Aiken's themes, style, and technique, with a biography, bibliography, and a selection of his poems.

"Conrad Aiken, Magus." Lewis Turco writes appreciatively about his personal experiences with Aiken, at his poetry blog.

"'Polite echoes of other voices.' David Herd assesses Conrad Aiken, a modern poet who never tried anything new." Quoth the (UK) Guardian, 27 March 2004.

Kellaway, Richard. "Conrad Aiken: Unitarian Prodigy Poet." Harvard Square Library.

Kellaway, Richard. "Conrad Aiken and T.S. Eliot: Ministers' Progeny Gone Away (Astray?)" Aiken and Eliot became friends when they were both at Harvard, and both were grandsons of Unitarian ministers. But while Aiken considered himself a Unitarian all his life (though not belonging to a church), Eliot famously converted to Catholicism. Rev. Kellaway in this article considers their different spiritual development and their poetry [vanished].

literary criticism

Beach, Joseph Warren. "Conrad Aiken and T. S. Eliot: Echoes and Overtones." PMLA 69, 4 (Sept. 1954) pp 753-62 [free at jstor].

Brown, Calvin S. "Music and Conrad Aiken." On Aiken's deep interest in music and his use of musical techniques in his poetry. The Georgia Review 2, 1 (Spring 1948) pp 40-51 [free at jstor].

Crawford, Fred D. "Conrad Aiken's Cancelled Debt to T. S. Eliot." On Aiken's influence on T.S. Eliot Journal of Modern Literature 7, 3 (Sept. 1979) pp 416-32 [free at jstor].

Mizelle, Vance. "Conrad Aiken's 'Music Strangely Subtle.'" The Georgia Review 19, 1 (Spring 1965) pp 81-92 [free at jstor].

Moore, John R. "Conrad Aiken: The Egotistical Sublime?" The Sewanee Review 74, 3 (Summer 1966) pp 694-709 [free at jstor].

Spivey, Ted R. "Conrad Aiken's Ushant: Record of a Contemporary Poet's Quest for Self-Knowledge." Discusses Aiken's autobiography, Ushant, as a moving story of spiritual quest. Aiken's search began, says Spivey, in the tragedy of his childhood, when his father murdered his mother then committed suicide. South Atlantic Bulletin 36, 4 (Nov. 1971) pp 21-28 [free at jstor].

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