After leaving West Point Academy, Poe decided to go back to his biological father's family and was welcomed by his Aunt Clemm and her daughter Virginia. During this time, Poe developed a love interest for Virginia, and when she was fourteen years old, they got married. However, before Poe joined his Aunt and Cousin in Baltimore, Poe tried to start his career as a writer, but was hindered by the lack of copyright laws as publishers often pirated copies of British works rather than publish new work by Americans. Finally, after his early attempts at poetry, he managed to place a few stories with a Philadelphia publication and was awarded a prize in 1833 by the Baltimore Saturday Visiter for his short story " MS. Found in a Bottle."While being married to Virginia, he also became associated with the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. While part of it, he made it very well known as a highly bold book critic of other famous authors' works that he had encountered. According to Bio.com," There he developed a reputation as a cut-throat critic, writing vicious reviews of his contemporaries. However, when he moved back to Virginia, he learned that she had died at the age of twenty four from the disease tuberculosis, something that had already eliminated many other people in his life. The news of his beloved companion deeply shook Poe, and for months and months he faced writing block. Afterwards, he traveled around for some time, published "The Raven", and gave many lectures.