Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in Head Tide, Maine, on December 22, 1869. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Gardiner, Maine, where Robinson attended public schools. Much of his later literary work was based on his early life in Maine. He studied literature at Harvard University for two years, but was forced to leave school after his father became ill. Moving to New York City, Robinson supported himself at various jobs while he concentrated on writing poetry.
Robinson was eventually recognized for his poetry. Finally able to support himself on his writings alone, he left his last regular job, as a clerk in the New York customs house, to write full-time in 1909. He also took up regular summer residence at that time at the MacDowell Colony, an artist's retreat in Peterboro, New Hampshire. Robinson received three Pulitzer Prizes for literature, in 1921, 1925, and 1927, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Yale University in 1922. He died of illness in New York City in 1935.
Esther Willard Bates was a playwright who met Edwin Arlington Robinson at the MacDowell Colony. Possessing the rare ability to read Robinson's handwriting, she became his typist and the first reader of his manuscripts.
From the guide to the Esther Willard Bates Photograph Collection, 1888-1954, (Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico.)
