Edgar's story:
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer famous for his dark, mysterious poems and stories. Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston to Elizabeth Arnold Poe, a British actress, and David Poe, Jr., an actor who was born in Baltimore. His father left the family early in Poe's life, and his mother passed away from tuberculosis when he was only three. He lived with foster parents John and Frances Allan for his whole childhood, and spent the first years in his adulthood working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities. He married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, in 1836. In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success, but Virginia died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. His last works were inspired by Virginia’s death; his most remarkable poem being "Annabel Lee". He died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at age 40. The cause of his death is unknown and has been debated over the years. Poe and his works influenced literature around the world, as well as specialized fields such as cosmology and cryptography. He and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. Most famously, Poe completely transformed the genre of the horror story with his masterful tales of psychological depth and insight not envisioned in the genre before his time and scarcely seen in it since, not to mention his work would bring about the first detective stories.
Reasons for choosing Poe:
I have always been into Edgar's macabre and mysterious works. I really admire his style of poetry and how he took inspiration from his past events to shape his work. Edgar Allan Poe is a writer who became famous after death, which I find really fascinating how his legacy lives on after his death. Poe was a phenomenal writer, and a great inspiration for similar writers such as H. P. Lovecraft and Ambrose Bierce. Without him, the landscape of horror literature would be very different today. I also admire how he uses his sad life experiences to make original works.