Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) is an American poet, novelist, and short story writer.

Prolific throughout his short life, he writes notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism.

He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.

The ninth surviving child of Methodist parents, Crane begins writing at the age of four and has published several articles by the age of sixteen.

Having little interest in university studies though he was active in a fraternity, he leaves Syracuse University in 1891 to work as a reporter and writer.

Crane's first novel is the 1893 Bowery tale Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, generally considered by critics to be the first work of American literary Naturalism.

He wins international acclaim in 1895 for his Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage, which he writes without having any battle experience.

In 1896, Crane endures a highly publicized scandal after appearing as a witness in the trial of a suspected prostitute, an acquaintance named Dora Clark

Late that year he accepts an offer to travel to Cuba as a war correspondent.

As he waits in Jacksonville, Florida for passage, he meets Cora Taylor, with whom he begins a lasting relationship.

En route to Cuba, Crane's vessel the SS Commodore sinks off the coast of Florida, leaving him and others adrift for thirty hours in a dinghy.

Crane describes the ordeal in "The Open Boat".

During the final years of his life, he covers conflicts in Greece (accompanied by Cora, recognized as the first woman war correspondent) and later lives in England with her.

He is befriended by writers such as Joseph Conrad and H. G. Wells.

Plagued by financial difficulties and ill health, Crane dies of tuberculosis in a Black Forest sanatorium in Germany at the age of twenty-eight.

At the time of his death, Crane is considered an important figure in American literature.

After he is nearly forgotten for two decades, critics revive interest in his life and work

Crane's writing is characterized by vivid intensity, distinctive dialects, and irony

Common themes involve fear, spiritual crises and social isolation.

Although recognized primarily for The Red Badge of Courage, which will become an American classic, Crane is also known for his poetry, journalism, and short stories such as "The Open Boat", "The Blue Hotel", "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky", and The Monster.

His writing will make a deep impression on twentieth-century writers, most prominent among them Ernest Hemingway, and is thought to have inspired the Modernists and the Imagists.