Pulitzer Prize Poetry Winner
Cornhuskers
by Carl Sandburg
Summary
The book gathers Sandburg's tributes to the prairie, the laboring poor, and the rough vitality of the Midwest into a sweeping democratic chorus. Long-lined free verse, plainspoken vernacular, and Whitmanesque catalogues let the poems move between tenderness and oratory. The collection helped cement an American populist mode rooted in industry, soil, and the speech of ordinary people.
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Historical Context & Significance
Sandburg shared this special citation with Margaret Widdemer. He was already famous as the "Poet of Industrial Chicago".