Hilda Conkling

Born in 1910, she was an American poet best known for composing nearly all of her published poetry in childhood. She grew up in Northampton, Massachusetts, the daughter of poet and Smith College professor Grace Hazard Conkling, who wrote down many of the poems as they were spoken.

Her first collections, including Poems by a Little Girl, Shoes of the Wind, and Silverhorn, introduced readers to a remarkable young voice. Sources agree that her poems were created when she was very young—often described as between about four and fourteen—and they are especially noted for their vivid attention to nature, feeling, and imagination.

Although her early books brought her unusual attention, she did not continue publishing poetry into adult life. That short creative period has remained the center of her reputation, and her work is still remembered as one of the most striking examples of childhood poetry in American literature.