e competed in a contest for the best short story in 1831. The prize was offered byPhil-Saturday Courier. Because he did not win the prize, Poe started on an ambitious project. Hedecided to plan a series of tales told by members of a literary group. He found no publisher forhis stories, and entered the contest again in June of 1835. This time he sent one poem and sixstories (Asselineau 411). His story, "Ms. Found in a Bottle," won , and he received one hundreddollars for it (Targ IX). Through the influence of one of the judges, John P. Kennedy, Poebecame employed as an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, published in Richmond(Asselineau 411). Under Poe's editorship, the Messenger 's circulation rose from 500 to 3500. While in Richmond, Poe married his cousin, Virginia, who was not quite fourteen years old. Poewas fired from the Messenger in January of 1837.Poe then went to New York, where he was unsuccessful. In the summer of 1838, hemoved to Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, he worked as the editor of both Burton'sGentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine (Asselineau 412). Even though he won a onehundred dollar prize for "The Gold Bug" (Robinson VI), he moved to New York. Poe found ajob in New York as an assistant editor for the Evening Mirror. This was where "The Raven" firstappeared on January 29, 1845. "The poem immediately caught the imagination of the public andwas reprinted all over the country and even abroad in all kinds of newspapers and magazines, butPoe pocketed only a few dollars for his poems (Asselineau 413)." The year of 1845 was a luckyyear for Poe. He published a collection of his Tales and an edition of his poems named TheRaven and Other Poems . He also became the editor of the weekly Broadway Journal. Poebroke down when Virginia died in January of 1848 ( Asselineau 413). In 1849, Poe died inBaltimore (Targ IX). "Instead of really living, he took refuge from the physical world in th...
