Helen A. Clarke

Helen Archibald Clarke (November 13, 1860 – February 8, 1926) was an American literary critic, book editor, composer and lyricist, and the co-founder of the journal Poet Lore. She was influential in shaping the American literary taste of her day through her work on Poet Lore, through her work co-editing the complete works of the British poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and through her books on writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Early life and education Helen Archibald Clarke was born in 1860 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jane Maria Searle and Hugh Archibald Clarke. Her father was a composer and music professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Clarke showed early aptitude for music herself. At the time, the university did not admit women, but Clarke attended for two years as a special student, earning a certificate in music in 1883.

Clarke died in Boston in 1926.