Educated at Vassar where she had won a scholarship on the basis of a published poem, Renascence, in 1912, Millay continued to write poetry while at school. She also became involved in the theater. In 1917, she published he first book of poetry, Renascence and Other Poems. In 1921, she wrote her first verse play, The Lamp and the Bell, at the urging of Vassar's drama department. She moved to Greenwich Village in New York City in 1920 and published A Few Figs From Thistles, which was controversial at the time for its expression of female sexuality and feminism. Millay was openly bisexual. Also in 1920, she published Aria da Capo, which was very popular. In 1921, she published Second April. Under contract to Vanity Fair magazine, Millay toured Europe from 1920 to 1923 and, on her return, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, the first woman to be so honoured. She married in 1923 and toured the world with her husband, Eugen Jan Boissevain, during 1924. In 1927, she wrote the libretto for the King's Henchman, an opera by Deems Taylor. It became a best-seller. Later that year, she became involved in the Sacco-Vanzetti case, joining in protests and appeals for their clemency. In 1929, she was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters and in 1940, to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1944, Millay suffered a nervous breakdown and did not write for two years. In 1949, her husband died and she followed a year later. Her major works also include The Harp-Weaver, and Other Poems (1922), Fatal Interview (1931), The Princess Marries the Page (1932), Conversation at Midnight (1937), Make Bright the Arrows (1940), The Murder of Lidice (1942), Poem and Prayer for an Invading Army (1944) and Mine the Harvest (1954-posthumous). |
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