Stephen Jay Greenblatt

Stephen Jay Greenblatt is a literary historian and author known for his significant contributions to English literature. His tenure as the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University since 2000, along with his extensive teaching experience at prestigious institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley, École des Hautes Études, the University of Florence, Kyoto University, the University of Oxford, and Peking University, has made him a respected figure in literary academia. Greenblatt's scholarly reputation is further bolstered by his role as the general editor of "The Norton Shakespeare" and "The Norton Anthology of English Literature," as well as his foundational work in the development of new historicism, which he refers to as "cultural poetics."

Greenblatt's expansive body of work showcases his deep understanding and interpretation of literature, particularly of the works of Shakespeare and the English Renaissance. His most popular work, "Will in the World," offers a comprehensive biography of Shakespeare, while his Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning book, "The Swerve: How the World Became Modern," sheds light on the modern world's formation. Greenblatt's extensive writing on Shakespeare, the Renaissance, culture, and New Historicism, coupled with his collaborative work, "Cardenio," with Charles L. Mee and his political commentary in "Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics," demonstrates his ability to blend literary scholarship with contemporary cultural and political discourse.

With a distinguished academic background from Yale University and Pembroke College, Cambridge, Greenblatt's contributions to literature and the humanities have been widely recognized. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been honored with the James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association, the Erasmus Institute Prize, and the Mellon Distinguished Humanist Award, among many others. His lectures at universities worldwide, including the Clarendon Lectures at the University of Oxford and the Adorno Lectures at Goethe University Frankfurt, further highlight his influence and prominence in literary studies.