Nora May French

Born in Aurora, New York, in 1881, Nora May French moved with her family to Southern California as a child. She became known as a poet and journalist, and later moved in the literary circles connected with Carmel's Arts and Crafts community in the years after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

French's life was brief but eventful. She studied intermittently, worked to support herself, and wrote poems that drew attention for their musical language and feeling. After her death in Carmel, California, on November 13, 1907, friends and fellow writers helped preserve her work, and a collection of her poems was published in 1910.

What remains most striking about her today is the contrast between the small amount of time she had and the strong impression she left behind. Her poetry is often remembered for its melancholy beauty, its inward intensity, and its place in the artistic world of early twentieth-century California.