Born in Humansville, Missouri, Zoë Byrd Akins was the second child of Thomas Jaspard Akins, a postmaster, and Sarah Elizabeth (Green) Akins. She received her early education at home, but the family’s move to St. Louis when she was eleven gave her the wider exposure to the arts that she craved. From 1899 to 1901 she was sent to school in Godfrey, Illinois, where Monticello Seminary implanted memories that later echoed in her 1941 novel Forever Young.
In childhood Zoë Akins chose her path as a writer and never deviated from it. She wrote poems, stories, and essays, but plays were her passion. When she graduated in 1903 from Hosmer Hall in St. Louis, she was already contributing to the local weekly Reedy’s Mirror,…
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Citation: Londre, Felicia Hardison. "Zoë Akins". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 January 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12904, accessed 21 November 2024.]
