Stephen Spender lived here while serving as U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant, from 1965 to 1966.
Spender was born in London, and lived for periods of time in Germany. He served in the Spanish Civil War, and edited the journals Horizon and Encounter. Beginning in 1954, he taught at various American colleges, as well as at University College in London. He was knighted by the British Queen in 1983.
Spender is the author of 18 collections of poems, as well as plays, short fiction, a novel, nonfiction, and a memoir. His poetry books include: Vienna (1934), The Edge of Being (1949), and The Generous Days (1971). His nonfiction books include Life and the Poet (1942), European Witness (1946), and The Making of a Poem (1955), as well as critical studies of T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden.
The Homes
Stephen Spender
323 Second Street SE, Washington DC
Located in Capitol Hill neighborhood, Southeast