Nathalia Crane
Nathalia Clara Ruth Crane (11 August 1913 – 22 October 1998) was an American poet and novelist who became famous as a child prodigy after the publication of her first book of poetry, The Janitor's Boy, written at age 10 and published two years later. Her poetry was first published in The New York Sun when she was only 9 years old, the paper unaware that she was a child. She was elected into the British Society of Authors, Playwrights, and Composers in 1925, written up in The American Mercury and later became a professor of English at San Diego State University.
Also recorded as Nathalia Clara Ruth Crane
Nathalia Crane

Smithsonian Institution from United States · Nathalia Clara Ruth Crane (1913-1998) · No known copyright restrictions
- Name
- Nathalia Clara Ruth Crane
- Born
- 11 August 1913
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
- Died
- 22 October 1998
- Occupation
- Author, professor
- Spouse
- Vete George Black Peter O'Reilly
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Nathalia Clara Ruth Crane (11 August 1913 – 22 October 1998) was an American poet and novelist who became famous as a child prodigy after the publication of her first book of poetry, The Janitor's Boy, written at age 10 and published two years later. Her poetry was first published in The New York Sun when she was only 9 years old, the paper unaware that she was a child. She was elected into the British Society of Authors, Playwrights, and Composers in 1925, written up in The American Mercury and later became a professor of English at San Diego State University.
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Nathalia Crane (1913–1998) was a novelist, poet and writer, of American nationality. The novelist was born in Brooklyn. Nathalia Crane worked for San Diego State University. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q15462646 · wikipedia · Nathalia Crane
In this article
Biography
Biography
After the publication of her second volume of poetry, Lava Lane, poet Edwin Markham implied that the publications were probably a hoax, stating "It seems impossible to me that a girl so immature could have written these poems. They are beyond the powers of a girl of twelve. The sophisticated viewpoint of sex,..knowledge of history and archeology found in these pages place them beyond the reach of any juvenile mind." Crane was dubbed "The Brooklyn Bard" by the time she was 13 and became part of the Louis Untermeyer poetry circle during her late teens, with Untermeyer contributing an introduction to her 1936 volume Swear by the Night & Other Poems. He was an early promoter of her work, stating, "some of the critics explained the work by insisting that the child was some sort of medium, an instrument unaware of what was played upon it; others, considering the book a hoax, scorned the fact that any child could have written verses so smooth in execution and so remarkable in spiritual overtones" and that "the appeal of such lines is not that they have been written by a child but by a poet."

Photograph of Nathalia Crane from 1924
Internet Archive copy of The Janitor's Boy and Other Poems (1924)
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nathalia Clara Ruth Crane • Born — 11 August 1913 • Birthplace — Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. • Died — 22 October 1998 • Occupation — Author, professor • Language — English • Genre — Fantasy, poetry • Spouse — Vete George Black Peter O'Reilly
Poetry
Poetry
• n.d., The Pamphlet Pacts. New York: Simon & Schuster. OCLC 15723289 • 1924, The Janitor's Boy: And Other Poems. New York: Thomas Seltzer. OCLC 593572 • 1925, Lava Lane, and Other Poems. New York: Thomas Seltzer. OCLC 40861749 • 1926, The Singing Crow. New York: A. & C. Boni. OCLC 26194523 • 1928, Venus Invisible: And Other Poems. New York: Coward-McCann. OCLC 1487072 • 1930, Pocahontas. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. OCLC 1395035 • 1936, Swear by the Night. New York: Random House. OCLC 330949866 • 1939, with Leonard Feeney, The Ark and the Alphabet: An Animal Collection. New York: The Macmillan Company. OCLC 1394769 • 1941, In the Last Lodging of Simplicity.... Richmond Hill, NY: Monastine Press. OCLC 9989633 • 1942, The Death of Poetry: A Dramatic Poem in Two Parts. New York: The Monastine Press. OCLC 4772185 • 1969, The Campus Drum Beat. El Cajon, CA: Cal-West. OCLC 12183657
Novels
Novels
• 1926, The Sunken Garden. New York: Thomas Seltzer. OCLC 3373060 • 1929, An Alien from Heaven. New York: Coward-McCann. OCLC 4068669
Other
Other
• 1925, with Frances E. Friedman, Nathalia Crane Song Book. New York: Thomas Seltzer. OCLC 4380011 • 1926, Nathalia Crane. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1913
Nathalia Crane was born on 11 August 1913.
1998
Nathalia Crane died on 22 October 1998.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Nathalia Crane”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q15462646: Nathalia Crane
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Smithsonian Institution. Nathalia Clara Ruth Crane (1913-1998). Smithsonian Institution Archives.
- 2.1920-30.com. Nathalia Crane child poet 1925. Life in the 1920s.
- 3.See Johnson, Nunnally, "Nathalia From Brooklyn," in The American Mercury September 1926, at pp. 52-59.
- 4.Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. Girl writers: Nathalia Crane, Vivienne Dayrell, & Daisy Ashford. The Weird Review. Violet Books.
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