Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet, art collector and salon host who was one of the most influential figures in the modernist movement. Born in 1874 in Pennsylvania, she settled in Paris in 1903 and remained there for the rest of her life, hosting a famous literary and artistic salon at 27 rue de Fleurus where she and her partner Alice B. Toklas entertained Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway, Fitzgerald and many of the leading creative figures of the era. Paris France is her lyrical and idiosyncratic meditation on the city she loved, exploring the character of France and the French people through her distinctive, repetitive and rhythmically innovative prose style. Stein's experimental writing pushed the boundaries of language and narrative, influencing generations of writers. She is also celebrated for The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Three Lives and Tender Buttons. Her audiobooks and books preserve the work of a true literary original. She died in 1946.