Michael Gorra
Encyclopedia
Michael Gorra is an American
professor
of English
and literature
, currently serving as the Mary Augusta Jordan Professor of English Language & Literature at Smith College
.
, a prep school
then in Milford, Connecticut
, during which time he became a member of science fiction fandom
, eventually publishing several issues of his own fanzines
Banshee and Random in 1974-1975. (Issue #9 of Banshee was a "Special Bob Tucker
Fund Issue"); it included work by Gorra, Charles Burbee, Terry Carr
[writing as "Carl Brandon"], Dean Grennell
, Jay Kinney
, Bill Kunkel
, andrew j. offutt, William Rotsler
, and Susan Wood
.) He led a "Fanpublishing Symposium" in Bill Bowers' Outworlds in 1975.
He earned his A.B.
at Amherst College
, and a Ph.D.
at Stanford University
.
levels, primarily on the 19th, 20th and 21st-century novel
, but also on such matters as travel writing
.
He is a book reviewer and critic
for such venues as the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement and The Hudson Review
; and has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, The New Republic
, the Atlantic Monthly and many other places. On October 2, 2003, Gorra was interviewed on NPR
's Morning Edition
about possible candidates for that year's Nobel Prize in Literature
.
His book-length publications include The English Novel at Mid-Century; After Empire: Scott, Naipaul, Rushdie; and The Bells in Their Silence: Travels through Germany. He edited The Portable Conrad
for Penguin Books
, and a Norton Critical Edition of William Faulkner
's As I Lay Dying.
His honors include the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award (the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing) for work as a reviewer. and a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship
for a study of Henry James
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, currently serving as the Mary Augusta Jordan Professor of English Language & Literature at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
Background
Gorra attended Milford AcademyMilford Academy
Milford Academy is a post-secondary school founded in 1906 in Milford, Connecticut as Yale Preparatory School. The school is located since 2004 in New Berlin, New York...
, a prep school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
then in Milford, Connecticut
Milford, Connecticut
Milford is a coastal city in southwestern New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between Bridgeport and New Haven. The population was 52,759 at the 2010 census...
, during which time he became a member of science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
, eventually publishing several issues of his own fanzines
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
Banshee and Random in 1974-1975. (Issue #9 of Banshee was a "Special Bob Tucker
Wilson Tucker
Arthur Wilson "Bob" Tucker was an American mystery, action adventure, and science fiction writer, who wrote professionally as Wilson Tucker....
Fund Issue"); it included work by Gorra, Charles Burbee, Terry Carr
Terry Carr
Terry Gene Carr was a U.S. science fiction author, editor, and teacher.Terry Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon...
[writing as "Carl Brandon"], Dean Grennell
Dean Grennell
Dean A. Grennell was an American firearms expert, a writer/editor, and active science fiction fan. He was the managing editor of Gun World magazine and editor of the science fiction fanzine Grue....
, Jay Kinney
Jay Kinney
Jay Kinney is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. A member, along with Skip Williamson, Jay Lynch and R. Crumb, of the original Bijou Funnies crew, Kinney also edited Young Lust, a satire of romance comics, in the early 1970s with Bill Griffith...
, Bill Kunkel
Bill Kunkel (gaming)
Bill Kunkel was the executive editor of Electronic Games Magazine in the early 1980s. More recently, Kunkel was editor-in-chief of Tips & Tricks magazine from January 2007 until August 2007 when it ceased publication...
, andrew j. offutt, William Rotsler
William Rotsler
William "Bill" Rotsler was an American cartoonist and graphic artist; author of several science fiction novels and short stories, and television and film novelizations, and non-fiction works on a variety of topics, ranging from Star Trek to pornography; a prominent member of science fiction...
, and Susan Wood
Susan Wood (science fiction)
Susan Joan Wood Susan Joan Wood Susan Joan Wood (August 22, 1948-November 12, 1980 was a Canadian author, critic, and science fiction fan, born in Ottawa, Ontario.Wood discovered science fiction fandom while she was studying at Carleton University in the 1960s. Wood met fellow fan Mike Glicksohn of...
.) He led a "Fanpublishing Symposium" in Bill Bowers' Outworlds in 1975.
He earned his A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, and a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Professorial career
Gorra came to teach at Smith College in 1985, where he teaches courses and leads seminars on the undergraduate and graduateGraduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
levels, primarily on the 19th, 20th and 21st-century novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, but also on such matters as travel writing
Travel writing
Travel writing is a genre that has, as its focus, accounts of real or imaginary places. The genre encompasses a number of styles that may range from the documentary to the evocative, from literary to journalistic, and from the humorous to the serious....
.
He is a book reviewer and critic
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
for such venues as the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement and The Hudson Review
The Hudson Review
The Hudson Review is a quarterly journal of literature and the arts. It was founded in 1947 in New York by William Ayers Arrowsmith, Joseph Deericks Bennett, and George Frederick Morgan. The first issue was introduced in the spring of 1948...
; and has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, the Atlantic Monthly and many other places. On October 2, 2003, Gorra was interviewed on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
about possible candidates for that year's Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
.
His book-length publications include The English Novel at Mid-Century; After Empire: Scott, Naipaul, Rushdie; and The Bells in Their Silence: Travels through Germany. He edited The Portable Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
for Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, and a Norton Critical Edition of William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
's As I Lay Dying.
His honors include the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award (the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing) for work as a reviewer. and a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
for a study of Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
.