Carl Sandburg

Born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1878, Carl Sandburg grew up in a Swedish American working-class family and held a string of jobs before making his name as a writer. That lived experience shaped the direct, energetic voice that made his poetry feel close to ordinary American life.

He is especially remembered for poems such as those in Chicago Poems, along with later collections that helped establish him as one of the best-known American poets of the 20th century. Sandburg also wrote for children, collected and performed American folk songs, and built a wide audience through public readings and lectures.

Beyond poetry, he earned major recognition for his multi-volume work on Abraham Lincoln, including a Pulitzer Prize in history, and he later received another Pulitzer for his Complete Poems. He died in 1967, but his writing still stands out for its warmth, clarity, and deep feeling for the country and its people.