Susan Glaspell

Susan Glaspell (July 1, 1882 ? July 27, 1948) was an American dramatist, theatrical producer, theatre owner/operator, and novelist.

Related Topics:
July 1 - 1882 - July 27 - 1948 - American - Drama - Theatrical producer - Novel

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Susan Glaspell was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1876. She earned a doctorate from Drake University in 1899 and went to work as a reporter in Des Moines. She sold her first short stories to women's magazines at this time, and her first novel, The Glory of the Conquered, was published. After marrying fellow novelist and playwright George Cram Cook, Glaspell moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts and together they founded the influential Provincetown Players theatre group in 1915. The group produced plays by both Cook and Glaspell, as well as helping to launch the career of Eugene O'Neill.

Related Topics:
Davenport, Iowa - Drake University - 1899 - Des Moines - George Cram Cook - Provincetown, Massachusetts - Provincetown Players - 1915 - Eugene O'Neill

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Under the influence of her husband, Glaspell's novels from this period incorporated socialist ideals. Glaspell wrote several plays for the Provincetown Players, acting in and producing some of them. In 1922 Glaspell and Cook left their successful theatre behind so Cook could write and study in Delphi, Greece. Cook died there in 1924 and Glaspell returned to Provincetown where she resumed her career as a novelist and playwright and lived with writer Norman Matson for eight years. She wrote a biography of her late husband, The Road to the Temple, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her 1931 play, Alison's House. After separating from Matson, Glaspell devoted herself to her novels and wrote no more plays. She died in Provincetown in 1948. Her popularity has decreased after her death, and almost all of her novels are out of print (with the exception of "Fidelity", recently reprinted by Persephone Books), but she is still highly regarded for her experimental plays and her widely anthologized short story A Jury of Her Peers.

Related Topics:
Socialist - 1922 - Delphi, Greece - 1924 - Norman Matson - Pulitzer Prize for Drama - 1931

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