Mother Writers in History

Did you know that the first poet published in English in America–male or female–was a mother writer? Anne Bradstreet (ca. 1612/13-1672) raised eight children while also writing the poetry that was published in her book The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650). Bradstreet wrote on many subjects, including her life as a mother and grandmother in Puritan America. You can read all her writing in a John Harvard Library edition titled the Works of Anne Bradstreet. You can also read about her life and work in the new biography by Charlotte Gordon titled Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America’s First Poet (2005).

And, finally, you can also check out some of her poetry and a short biography at www.annebradstreet.com