J. Berg Esenwein

Joseph Berg Esenwein (May 16, 1867 – November 1, 1946) was an American editor, lecturer and writer. He was noted for contributions to the Library of the World's Best Literature.

Biography

Esenwein was born in Philadelphia to parents Augustus and Catherine Esenwein. He was educated at Albright College, Millersville Normal School, Lafayette College, Richmond College and the University of Omaha. He was president of Albright Collegiate Institute in 1895–96, and in the following year held the position of educational director of the Y. M. C. A. at Washington Heights, New York City.

After a year of foreign travel, he became professor of English in the Pennsylvania Military College at Chester, subsequently giving up teaching in 1903 to become manager of the Booklovers' Magazine. Two years later, he was made editor and manager of Lippincott's Magazine, a position which he held until 1914 while teaching a private course on short-story writing. Esenwein wrote some of the first books on creative writing, including Writing the Short-Story (1909). In 1915, he became editor of The Writer's Monthly, Springfield, Mass. He is known both as a lecturer and writer.

Bibliography

Esenwein's published works, besides articles contributed to Charles Dudley Warner's Library of the World's Best Literature, include:

Songs for Reapers (1895)

Modern Agnosticism (1896)

Feathers for Shafts (1897)

Writing the Short-Story: A Practical Handbook on the Rise, Structure, Writing, and Sale of the Modern Short-Story (1909)

Lessons in the Short Story (1910)