author
Ada Langworthy Collier
1843–1919
A 19th-century American poet and novelist, she is best remembered for Lilith, The Legend of the First Woman, a bold retelling of an old legend. Her work ranges from poems and sketches to fiction, with a voice shaped by Iowa roots and a wide literary curiosity.
1 Audiobook
Lilith : The legend of the first woman
by Ada Langworthy Collier
About the author
Born in Dubuque, Iowa, on December 23, 1843, Ada Langworthy Collier was an American writer who published poetry, short stories, sketches, and novels. She also wrote under the pen names Anna L. Cunningham and Marguerite, and she became especially known for Lilith, The Legend of the First Woman (1885).
Collier was educated at Lasell Seminary near Boston, and early accounts of her life describe her as a gifted but modest writer. Her career connected Midwestern beginnings with a broader literary world, and her work shows a taste for narrative, character, and mythic themes.
She died on August 6, 1919. Though not as widely read today as some of her contemporaries, she remains an interesting figure in American literary history, especially for readers drawn to forgotten women writers and ambitious 19th-century poetry.