Biography of the Author

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer, poet, editor and literary critic born on January 19, 1809 and dead on October 3, 1849. He was born in Boston, the second child of David and Elizabeth Poe, both actor. His father abandoned his family on 1810, and his mother died the following year. As an orphan, he was later adopted by John and Frances Allan. He was generally recognized as one of the universal teachers of the short story, of which he was one of the first practitioners in his country. He was a renovator of the Gothic novel, especially remembered for his horror stories. Considered the inventor of the detective story, he also contributed several works to the emerging genre of science fiction, and was the first renowned American writer to attempt to make writing his modus vivendi (way of life), which had unfortunate consequences for him.