Maxwell Bodenheim

Born in Hermanville, Mississippi, Maxwell Bodenheim was an American poet and novelist who became part of the lively literary worlds of Chicago and later New York. He was associated with early modernist writing and published both poetry and fiction, building a reputation during the 1910s and 1920s.

He is often remembered not only for his books but also for his larger-than-life public image. In Greenwich Village he was famously called the "King of the Bohemians," a sign of how closely his name became tied to the era's artistic and unconventional life.

Bodenheim's career stretched across many years and many books, and his writing helped mark a transitional moment in American literature, when poets and novelists were experimenting with freer forms and new subjects. His life ended tragically in New York in 1954, but his name still stands out in accounts of American literary bohemia.