E. E. Cummings was born today in writing history, October 14. Celebrate the poet’s birthday by learning more about his life and contributions to the literary world. Aspiring writers should also use this opportunity as a writing exercise. Look for inspiration today in writing history.

Writing Prompts for Today In Writing: October 14

Please take this opportunity to learn more about E. E. Cummings and his contributions to literature. The author’s ability to craft free-form prose is lauded for its modernist approach. Cummings is known for ignoring rules of syntax and grammar; his name often appears ee cummings.  

What led E. E. Cummings to write poetry? Where did the inspiration to find his ideas come from? And what helped the author create his way of writing? Find inspiration about Cummings, learn more details about his life, and write!

E. E. Cummings Biography

Edward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14, 1894. His father, Edward Cummings, was a Harvard professor. His mother, Rebecca Haswell Clarke, spent much time with her children. E. E. Cummings’s parents encouraged his interest in the arts, and from a young age, he was writing poems and drawing.

The aspiration to be a poet began in childhood, and Cummings wrote poetry daily from age 8 to 22. He graduated from Harvard University with a BA in 1915. During his college years, his interest in poetry expanded. The poet explored formats and forms, and developed his interest in modern poetry aiming for dynamic use of language. Cummings returned to Harvard in 1916 for his MA.

Cummings in World War I

E. E. Cummings enlisted in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps in 1917 during the First World War. Due to an administrative error, he did not receive an assignment for five weeks. The lull in duty allowed him to explore Paris alongside his newfound friend William Slater Brown, who was also an aspiring writer.

However, Cummings and Brown drew the suspicion of military censors reviewing letters sent home. They openly expressed anti-war views, preferred fraternizing with French soldiers rather than their fellow drivers, and E. E. Cummings spoke of a lack of hatred for the Germans. The French military arrested the young writers on September 21, 1917, on suspicions of espionage and undesirable activity. The duo was held in a large room in a military detention camp in Normandy for three and a half months.

Cummings’s father failed to obtain his son’s release through diplomatic means and wrote a letter to President Woodrow Wilson in December 1917. E. E. Cummings was released on December 19, 1917, and Brown was released two months later. Despite the unfortunate circumstance, Cummings seized on the experience and used it for this novel, The Enormous Room, published in 1922.

On January 1, 1918, E. E. Cummings returned to the United States. The same year, he was drafted into the US Army and began training at Camp Devens, Massachusetts. However, the war ended in November before Cummings was sent back to Europe.

E. E. Cummings’s Writing Career

Cummings would return to Paris in 1921, a city he fell in love with during the war, and would live there for two years. He returned to Europe several times throughout his life, focusing on Paris. However, the poet would visit other countries in his travels, like Spain, North Africa, and the Soviet Union. 

Cummings would return to New York City in 1923 and publish a poetry collection, Tulips and Chimneys. A second collection, XLI Poems, was published in 1925. With his unique writing style, E. E. Cummings gained a reputation as an avant-garde poet through his inventive use of grammar and syntax.

The Poet’s Change of Style

In 1926, Cummings’s parents were in a car crash. A locomotive collided with their vehicle, severely injuring his mother and killing his father. The death of Edward Cummings had a strong effect on E. E., who began writing poetry more focused on life. This new period began with the poem, ‘my father moved through dooms of love.’ 

Later Life and Death

Cummings continued to write throughout his life. In 1952, Harvard awarded him a position as an honorary guest professor. He spent the last decade of his life traveling and fulfilling speaking engagements.

E. E. Cummings died of a stroke on September 3, 1962, in North Conway, New Hampshire. He was 67. At the time of his death, Cummings was recognized as the second most-read poet in the United States, following Robert Frost.

10 E. E. Cummings Quotes

1. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

2. To destroy is always the first step in any creation.

3. Listen; there’s a hell of a good universe next door: let’s go.

4. Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.

5. Nothing recedes like progress.

6. Unless you love someone, nothing else makes any sense.

7. A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man.

8. If a poet is anybody, he is somebody to whom things made matter very little – somebody who is obsessed by Making.

9. Be of love a little more careful than of anything.

10. The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

Notable E. E. Cummings Works

1922 The Enormous Room

1923 Tulips and Chimneys

1925 XLI Poems

1926 is 5

1931 ViVa

1933 EIMI

1935 No Thanks

1938 Collected Poems

1940 50 Poems

1944 1 × 1

1950 XAIPE: Seventy-One Poems

1953 i—six nonlectures

1954 Poems, 1923–1954

1958 95 Poems

1965 Fairy Tales 

Today in Writing: October 14 – Daily Writing Exercise

Now that you have done some reading, it is time to write. Aspiring writers should look to the stories from Today in Writing: October 14 and E. E. Cummings’s inspirational life. Read his quotes and study his poetry to understand the author’s writing style. 

Find a topic and freewrite for 10 minutes. The poems of E. E. Cummings pushed the ideas of conventional poetry. Cummings develops a style of his own through toils in different poetic formats and deep immersion in poetic literature. Aspiring writers should look for inspiration in this author’s inventive inspiration and start writing.

Don’t let any opportunity to write go to waste. Aspiring writers: Practice your writing today. Celebrate Today in Writing History October 14.