Alfred Francis Kreymborg was born on the 10th December 1883, in New York City's East Side. Despite attending New York public schools, he was largely self-educated teaching himself both the piano and mandolin. He was also an excellent chess player. As a poet he was an early American proponent of both free verse and prose poetry. His individual style was evident in his published volumes and he was critically acclaimed. Kreymborg was also very influential in the publishing world helping to launch the careers of Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams and providing crucial support to the Modernism movement. He further expanded his writing career with several puppets plays that he later took on tour. Alfred Kreymborg died on the 14th August 1966 in Milford, Connecticut.