"I was delighted to discover in Harriet MonroeÕs 1898 diary her daily record of walks and bicycle rides along the eastern shore of Lake Geneva."
Since its inception in 1912, Poetry magazine has been widely regarded as a premier resource for modern poetry and poets. Published in Chicago as Poetry: a Magazine of Verse, its legacy continues today through the Poetry Foundation, a superlative online resource for seekers of poets, poems, and random lines needing identification. A less immediately recognizable legacy is that of its founder, Harriet Monroe (1860Ð1936), one of those fin de si�cle Òintellectual womenÓ typically dismissed as a contradiction in terms. But Monroe was a force to be reckoned with, and this beautifully crafted volume participates in the recuperation of a life and career dedicated to facilitating and promoting modern poetry in the twentieth-century and beyond.
Michael HillÕs Harriet Monroe, An American Poet In Vevey: Her Diary Entries, May 16 - July 26, 1898 offers sensitively rendered, artfully embellished insights into MonroeÕs European travels. Its focus on her sojourn in Vevey vibrantly illustrates the broader Ògeopoetic excursionsÓ that shaped the life and career of one whose impact on the Chicago arts scene continues today. Along with his work in geography and Òpedestrian travel,Ó Professor Hill brings to this study his distinguished record of contributions to the history of sociology. His pioneering work on Victorian traveler and sociologist Harriet Martineau Ñ a consummate hiker Ñ finds resonance in the late-century American traveler and arts activist, Harriet Monroe; the parallels and differences marking the two offer striking perspectives on the alternative experiences of nineteenth-century women who were not married-with-children.