Cunningham, Michael: *1952
Specimen Days, 2005 - Walt Whitman
- Facts
- Biography from Walt Whitman Archive (Very extensive biography)
- Biography from Wikipedia (Good for a quick overview and orientation)
Chronology (Detailed timeline from birth through death and includes his journalism, publications, Civil War experiences, relationships, travels, and major editions)- Walt Whitman Archive (Provides Whitman's poetry and prose, different editions of Leaves of Grass, manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, etc.)
- Information from Great Writers Inspire, Oxford University (An academic/university perspective)
- "Song of Myself", which explores how a 36-year-old freelance journalist and part-time housebuilder living in Brooklyn created his outrageous, groundbreaking work that irrevocably altered the development of poetry and literature that followed. (Poem plus an audio reading)
- Specimen Days text from:
Gutenberg
Internet Archive (various formats and audio versions - primary text for free) - Podcast
Whitman's Life (Can make the biography easier to understand) - Published Writings
- Articles
- Audio (35:12)
Celebrating Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass: a discussion with Ed Folsom, professor of English at the University of Iowa. On July 4, 1855, a book of poetry by an unknown poet named Walt Whitman came out to mixed reviews and widespread disinterest. Eventually, it changed the way poets thought... and sang... of themselves. Lynn Neary leads a discussion on Leaves of Grass. NPR Radio; July 5, 2005
- Audio (35:12)