W(ystan) H(ugh) Auden

Auden, W(ystan) H(ugh) (1907–73), Anglo-American poet and major influence in 20th century literature. In the 1930s, when he also collaborated with Christopher Isherwood on verse plays (The Dog Beneath the Skin, The Ascent of F6, and On the Frontier), his poetry probed pre-World War II European culture. In 1939 Auden moved to the United States, where he became a citizen in 1946. His later work, which delves into religion, psychology, and politics, includes The Double Man (1941), The Age of Anxiety (1947, Pulitzer Prize), The Shield of Achilles (1955), and About the House. He also wrote opera librettos and literary criticism.