Leonora Speyer

Leonora Speyer

About Leonora Speyer

Leonore von Stosch, known as Leonora Speyer, (November 7, 1872 in Washington, D.C. — February 10, 1956 in New York City) was an American poet and violinist, naturalized British, who received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1927 for her poetry collection “Fiddler’s Farewell”. After completing her schooling, she studied music and violin at conservatories in Paris, Brussels, and Leipzig. She subsequently played in orchestras under the direction of Arthur Nikisch and Anton Seidl. In 1902, she married Edgar Speyer, a banker and later chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London. The couple lived in London until 1915, when anti-German sentiments prompted Sir Edgar who had German ancestors to emigrate with his wife to New York, they were forced to leave England to take refuge in America. Upon returning to the United States, Leonora Speyer began writing poetry and made her literary debut in 1921 with the book “Canopic Jar”. She also wrote in 1923 the noticed “American Poets: An Anthology of Contemporary Verse”.
Her best-known work was the poetry collection “Fiddler’s Farewell” (1926), for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1927. Her later publications include “Naked Heel” (1931) and “Slow Wall, Poems New & Selected” (1931).

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I believe in anthologies, although I know they offer only a glimpse.

Leonora Speyer Poems




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