Lewis, Sinclair, 1885-1951

Dates

• Existence: 1885 - 1951

Biography

Sinclair Lewis was born on February 7, 1885 in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Lewis's earliest published creative work—romantic poetry and short sketches—appeared in the Yale Courant and the Yale Literary Magazine, of which he became an editor. While working for newspapers and publishing houses (and for a time at the Carmel-by-the-Sea, California writers' colony), he developed a facility for turning out shallow, popular stories that were purchased by a variety of magazines. He also earned money by selling plots to Jack London, including one for the latter's unfinished novel The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. Lewis's first published book was "Hike and the Aeroplane" in 1912. Sinclair Lewis's first serious novel, "Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man," appeared in 1914, followed by "The Trail of the Hawk: A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life" (1915) and "The Job" (1917). Other publications nclude "Babbitt" (1922), "Arrowsmith" 1925), "Elmer Gantry"(1927), and "Dodsworth" (1929). Lewis died on January 10, 1951.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: