Anne Bradstreet Day 2023: Date, History, Facts, Activities

The national Anne Bradstreet Day is recognised annually on September 16, the poet and author’s death anniversary. She is regarded as one of the most significant early English poets in North America and was the first author to be published in the English colonies in North America. This day commemorates all of her evolutionary contributions.

The background of Anne Bradstreet Day

Anne Bradstreet, formerly known as Anne Dudley, was born in England in 1612 in Northampton. At the age of 18, she sailed with her spouse, Simon Bradstreet, her parents, and other Puritans to settle in Massachusetts Bay. Anne Bradstreet would compose poetry while performing household chores, raising eight children, working as a hostess, etc. Without her knowledge, her brother-in-law took these poems to England and had them published as “The Tenth Muse Recently Sprung Up in America.” This was the first of her many compositions to be published.

She was one of the first colonial poets published in the New World, the first Englishwoman to publish a collection of poetry, and the first American poet to be published. While her early works were more rooted in the traditional structure of poetry at the time, her writing became increasingly inspired and original, covering a wide range of topics including beauty, mortality, society, and her Puritan faith.

Anne Bradstreet prepared the way for subsequent generations. She continued to compose and publish her works until her death on September 16, 1672, at her permanent residence in Andover. National Anne Bradstreet Day is observed on September 16, the anniversary of the author’s death, to honour her notable works and commemorate her life.

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DAY OF ANNE BRADSTREET ACTIVITIES

Read some of her writings.

What better way to celebrate National Anne Bradstreet Day than by perusing some of her renowned writing due? There is a large corpus of her poetry on a variety of topics from which to choose.

Create your own verse

You could draw inspiration from her work and let your inner Anne Bradstreet emerge by picking up a pen and paper.

Explore literary history further

Take the time to learn more about Anne Bradstreet, as well as the numerous other notable figures and events that contributed to the evolution of literature as we know it today.

5 FACTS WE KNOW ABOUT ANNE BRADSTREET FROM HER POEMS

Anne writes about the destruction of her home and her feelings of regret over the loss of material possessions; fortunately, her family members survived.

Anne expresses her undying love for her spouse, Simon Bradstreet, in a poem she wrote for him; the couple married when Anne was 16 years old.

She compares the process of creating and publishing her work to the various phases of motherhood and views her work as her child.

Anne was among the first poets to write about intimate topics such as thoughts, emotions, and life events; she paved the way for such writing.

Anne was devout and highly treasured her faith in God; however, she recognised and criticised some of the problems with the Puritan faith. Her writing is heavily influenced by Puritanism.