Charlotte Wilder


Charlotte Wilder was an American poet, the daughter of Amos Parker Wilder and the eldest sister of author Thornton Wilder, Isabel Wilder, Janet Wilder Dakin, and Amos Wilder.

Life

She grew up in Berkeley, California and graduated from Berkeley High School. She received her B.A in English literature, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke College in 1919 and her M.A. from Radcliffe College. She taught at Wheaton College and Smith College until 1934 when she became a full-time poet.
According to an article in the January 15, 1983 issue of The Nation,, Wilder worked on the Federal Writers' Project, part of the Works Progress Administration, during the 1930s. Other writers who worked on this project included Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Claude McKay, David Ignatow, and Maxwell Bodenheim.
She suffered from a nervous breakdown in 1941, the repercussions of which lasted until her death in 1980.

Select poetry

The following appeared in The Nation:
The following appeared in Poetry Magazine:
Two collections of her work were published by Coward-McCann, Inc.: Phases of the Moon and Mortal Sequence.

Awards