Jean Burden

Jean P. Burden (1914–2008) was an American poet, essayist, and author. She was the poetry editor for Yankee magazine for nearly 50 years. She also wrote multiple animal-care books under the pen name Felicia Ames. As a child, she adopted a small kitten which found her reading on her porch, and from that time forward always had one or two. Her cats figure in some of her poetry and inspired her to write several books on cats, such as the bestseller The Classic Cat. She wrote many books on the care of animals for the Friskie Corporation, selling between two and three million copies. The first of her two books of poetry, Naked as the Glass, was praised by U.S. Poet Laureate Howard Nemerov as filled with "unobtrusive technical virtuosity". Burden received the only two-year scholarship offered to women to attend the University of Chicago where she studied under Thornton Wilder and graduated in 1936. She published numerous books of poetry and essays, and her work appeared in many national magazines, including Poetry, Atlantic, American Scholar, Trace, Saturday Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Better Homes and Gardens, Mademoiselle, Prairie Schooner, and Southern Review. She taught both privately and in workshops, and her book Journey Toward Poetry is a primer for teachers of poetry. She served as administrative officer for the Meals for Millions Foundation in Los Angeles from 1956–1965, and did freelance public relations work. Burden was a three-time MacDowell fellow and was named Poet Laureate of Altadena. In 1986 California State University established the Jean Burden Annual Poetry Series to honor her for her contributions as a poet, essayist, anthologist, teacher, and editor, and for her long-standing support of poetry at the university. The series features a reading by a noted poet each year and has included Pulitzer Prize winners as well as poet laureates from England and the U.S.

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Jean Burden

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