Novelists 43 Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane (1871–1900) was an American author. Prolific throughout his short life, he apparently wrote notable works in the Realist tradition and early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognised by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. The eighth surviving child of Methodist parents, he began writing at four and had published several articles by 16, leaving college in 1891 to work as a reporter and writer. His first novel (1893) Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, is generally considered by critics to be the first work of American literary Naturalism. He won international acclaim for Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895), which he wrote with no battle experience. In 1896, he endured a highly publicised scandal after appearing as a witness in the trial of suspected prostitute, Dora Clark. Late that year he accepted an offer to be a war correspondent in Cuba. En route, in Jacksonville, Florida, he met brothel madam Cora Taylor, with whom he began a lasting relationship. His ship to Cuba sank off the Florida coast, leaving him and others adrift for several days in a dinghy. He describes the ordeal in "The Open Boat". During his final years, he covered conflicts in Greece (accompanied by Cora, the first woman war correspondent). They later lived in England. He was befriended by writers such as Conrad and H G Wells. Plagued by financial difficulties and ill health, he died of TB in a German sanatorium aged 28. Considered at his death an important figure in American literature he was nearly forgotten for two decades, before interest revived. I first became aware of him doing American Studies at University. His writing is apparently characterised by vivid intensity, distinctive dialects and irony. Common themes are fear, spiritual crises and social isolation. Recognised primarily for The Red Badge, an American classic, he is also known for his poetry, journalism and short stories ("The Blue Hotel", "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky", "The Monster"). His writing made a deep impression on 20th-century writers, most prominent among them Hemingway, and is thought to have inspired the Modernists and the Imagists.