Central West End: St. Louis' literary district!

arch city · PostJan 28, 2005#12005-01-28T02:52+00:00

St. Louis has a storied history of spawning famous writers and poets such as Maya Angelou, Sara Teasdale, Ntozake Shange, Gerald Early, Eugene Redmond, etc. but they lived all over St. Louis. However, below is an article about how many of them coincidently lived in the Central West End. The article is poignant and enlightening.

St. Louis writers who fled, and the city that loves them

The Current

University of Missouri-St. Louis

Monday, January 24, 2005

The history of St. Louis' writers tends to be a good book in itself, with elements of angst, murder, self-destruction and, on the part of the city, unconditional love for the literary greats who spent their formative years here before their inevitable "adieu."

Revolving around each other in space and time, Kate Chopin, TS Eliot, Tennessee Williams and William S. Burroughs were not just a few of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century but they were neighbors as well, living within blocks and decades of each other in St. Louis' Central West End.

Tennessee Williams' apartment building

4633 Westminster Place

Tennessee Williams was born in Mississippi in 1911 but his family moved to this apartment building at the corner of Walton Avenue when he was eight-years-old. In addition to his many successes (including A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Williams was also well known for the depression and drug and alcohol addictions that dogged him throughout his adult life. In 1983, at the age of 72, he was found in a New York City hotel room having apparently choked to death on a bottle cap.

To read more: The Current: St. Louis writers who fled, and the city that loves them

bencharif · PostJan 28, 2005#22005-01-28T06:45+00:00

I've read--though I can't find the reference at the moment--that the late poet Howard Nemerov also lived in the Central West End.

urbanstlouis · PostJan 28, 2005#32005-01-28T07:27+00:00

bencharif wrote:I've read--though I can't find the reference at the moment--that the late poet Howard Nemerov also lived in the Central West End.

He was also a University Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis and has a "star" on the <A HREF="http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org">St. Louis Walk of Fame</A> in the Delamr Loop

http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/induct ... merov.html

Howard Nemerov graduated from Harvard in 1941, served in World War II, and began teaching in 1946. His first volume of poetry, The Image and the Law, was published the next year. In 1969, he became professor of English at Washington University. In addition to 13 volumes of poetry, his works include novels, stories and a notable body of criticism. He was inducted into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1977. The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov won The National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize a year later. He was named Poet Laureate of the United States in 1988.

bencharif · PostJan 28, 2005#42005-01-28T19:48+00:00

Thanks for the info. I also read that the poet Mona VanDuyn taught at Washington U.

stlrox · PostJan 28, 2005#52005-01-28T21:37+00:00

Nemerov lived in the Parkview neighborhood, which straddles the U City/St. Louis (Skinker-DeBaliviere) border.