''For the Canadian ethnobiologist, see

Nancy Turner Nancy Jean Turner (born 1947) is a Canadian ethnobiologist, originally qualified in botany, who has done extensive research work with the indigenous peoples of British Columbia, the results of which she has documented in a number of books and ...

.'' Nancy Byrd Turner (July 29, 1880 – September 5, 1971) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, editor and lecturer. She was a recipient of the

Golden Rose Award The Golden Rose Award, one of America’s oldest literary prizes, was inaugurated in 1919. The rose was modeled after the Gold Rose which is now in the Cluny Museum in Paris. ThNew England Poetry Clubawards the Rose annually for American poetry. ...

and the Virginia Writers' Club's poetry prize.

Life

Nancy Byrd Turner was born in Boydton,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, July 29, 1880. She was the eldest child of Rev. Byrd Thornton and Nancy Turner. In 1898, she graduated from Hannah More Academy in Maryland and began work as a teacher. During this period her work appeared in several national magazines including the ''Saturday Evening Post'' and ''Scribners. In 1917, she moved to Boston to join the editorial staff of ''

The Youth's Companion ''The Youth's Companion'' (1827–1929), known in later years as simply ''The Companion—For All the Family'', was an American children's magazine that existed for over one hundred years until it finally merged with '' The American Boy'' in 19 ...

''. By 1922 she was an editor for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', and

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

. She joined the MacDowell art colony in 1925 and remained there until 1944. Her first book of poetry, ''A Riband on My Rein'', was published in 1929. Over the course of her career she published 15 books, ranging from adult poetry to children's literature and lyrics. Her work appeared in England and in the United States in such magazines as ''Good Housekeeping'', ''Harper's Magazine'', ''Ladies' Home Journal'', and the ''New Yorker''. She retired to Ashland,

, to become a lecturer and freelance writer. She died September 5, 1971.

Awards

* 1930

, of the New England Poetry Society. * 1948 Virginia Writers' Club's poetry prize

Works

* *

Poetry

* * '' A Riband on My Rein'', 1929 * reprint 2008 (illustrated by Winifred Bromhall) * * * * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Nancy Byrd 1880 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American poets American editors American women poets 20th-century American women writers People from Boydton, Virginia Poets from Virginia People from Ashland, Virginia