Jessica Nelson North - Writing Career

Writing Career

During college, North was the president of the University of Chicago Poetry Club and was the editor of the Adelphean and the History of Alpha Delta Pi.

North published her first novel, Arden Acres, in 1935. It is a family drama and social commentary set in the Great Depression told from the point of view of the oldest daughter of a family in the fictional Arden Acres, Illinois. She also published Miss Missouri, The Long Leash(1928), The Prayer Rug and The Pocket. Her poem about a child's tea party is one of her most beloved works. It starts:

In the thirties and forties, North was an editor at Poetry magazine, one of the leading poetry magazines of the English speaking world. She also published The Giant's Shoe in 1967, an illustrated children's book. Her work has been included in textbooks including Golden Trails.

Jessica Nelson North died on June 3, 1988 in Downers Grove, Illinois.