E. E. Cummings

Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), typically abbreviated E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, and playwright. Though a representation not endorsed by him, his publishers often mirrored his atypical syntax by writing his name in lower case, e. e. cummings.

Capitalization of Cummings' name

His name is frequently written in lowercase, e. e. cummings, as the lowercase form was a concept for a cover design by one of his publishers. However, Cummings himself capitalized his name. Stories claiming that Cummings preferred a lowercase version of his name or even so much legally changed his name to the lowercase version are false.

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Cummings scholar Norman Friedman addressed the matter in his essay "NOT 'e. e. cummings'", which appeared in the first edition of Spring: The Journal of the E. E. Cummings Society (Spring 1 (1992): pp.114-121).

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