Maurice Lesemann (28 November 1899 – 2 October 1981) was a

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poet. Lesemann was born in Chicago, the son of a Methodist clergyman. He studied at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

where he served as president of the Poetry Club, several of whose members — including Lesemann — were published in early numbers of the magazine ''Poetry''. Before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, he travelled to

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to visit

Yvor Winters Arthur Yvor Winters (October 17, 1900 – January 25, 1968) was an American poet and literary critic. Life Winters was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived there until 1919 except for brief stays in Seattle and Pasadena, where his grandparents ...

and

Glenway Wescott Glenway Wescott (April 11, 1901 – February 22, 1987) was an American poet, novelist and essayist. A figure of the American expatriate literary community in Paris during the 1920s, Wescott was openly gay.Eric Haralson, ''Henry James and Queer Mo ...

, and spent some time in teaching in the town of Cerrillos. After graduating he went into advertising. He married in 1926.

Prizes

* 1920: Poetry Chicago's Young Poet's Prize *

Witter Bynner Poetry Prize The Witter Bynner Poetry Prize was established by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980 to support the work of a young poet. It is named for poet Witter Bynner. The prize was discontinued in 2003. It is not to be confuse ...

* 1927:

Levinson Prize Levinson is an Ashkenazi Jewish surname meaning "son of Levi". Notable people with the surname include: * Aaron Levinson (born 1963), American producer, musician, composer and record label owner * André Levinson (1887–1933), French dance journa ...

1899 births 1981 deaths American male poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers University of Chicago alumni {{US-poet-1890s-stub