Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was an American journalist, novelist, and poet credited with the introduction of realism into American literature. His first novel, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, was the gritty, glum result of Crane's observations of the poor while living in New York City. The novel was not a success, but he developed his realistic style to such an extent that his next effort gave him literary fame: The Red Badge of Courage described the emotions and experience of a Civil War soldier so evocatively that it was difficult to believe that Crane had never been in war. His reputation was then solidified, and he was given journalistic assignments in Greece and Cuba. He led an adventuresome life, including surviving the sinking of a ship, witnessing battles, covering the aftermath of war, and eliciting scandal from a relationship. He eventually moved to Europe and died in Germany of tuberculosis at the young age of 28.

Nationality: American

Birth Date: 1 Nov 1871

Death Date: 5 June 1900

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The Open Boat: A Tale Intended to be After the Fact. Being the Experience of Four Men Sunk from the Steamer Commodore (1894): Published in 1897, The Open Boat is based on an actual incident from Stephen Crane’s life. While on his way to Cuba, Crane's ship sank off the coast of Florida. Crane and other survivors were stranded at sea for thirty hours. They eventually made their way to safety in a small boat, but one of the men drowned while trying to swim to shore. Crane wrote this story soon after the incident occurred.
The Red Badge of Courage (1895): The Red Badge of Courage is an impressionistic novel by Stephen Crane about the meaning of courage, as it is narrated by Henry Fleming, a recruit in the American Civil War. It is one of the most influential American war stories ever written even though the author was born after the war and had never seen battle himself. Crane met and spoke with a number of veterans as a student and he created what is widely regarded as an unusually realistic depiction of a young man in battle.