- Anne Savarese
Executive Editor - Ben Tate
Senior Editor, Europe
Literature at Princeton University Press encompasses literary criticism, history, biography, and reference; primary works by notable writers; poetry, in English and in translation; and occasional works on writing, research, and teaching. The list includes studies of literature in English and in other languages around the world, and puts literary research and ideas in conversation with other disciplines, from philosophy to the arts.
From landmark works of criticism to new translations of classic works, literary biographies to folk and fairy tales, the list represents enduring contributions to literary study and promotes knowledge and understanding of literature in all its forms.
New & Noteworthy
Series
Ideas
-
Michael Schmidt on Gilgamesh
Poetry Day in the UK is October 3, the perfect time to revisit a lost poem—and its rediscovery by contemporary poets. Gilgamesh is the most ancient long poem known to exist.
-
Eleanor Wilner on Before Our Eyes
A poet who engages with history in lyrical language, Elenor Wilner creates worlds that reflect on and illuminate the actual one, drawing on the power of communal myth and memory to transform them into agents of change.
-
Peter Martin on The Dictionary Wars
Peter Martin recounts the patriotic fervor in the early American republic to produce a definitive national dictionary that would rival Samuel Johnson’s 1755 Dictionary of the English Language.
-
Jonathan Bate on How the Classics Made Shakespeare
Ben Jonson famously accused Shakespeare of having “small Latin and less Greek.” But he was exaggerating. Shakespeare was steeped in the classics.
-
Artemis Leontis on Eva Palmer Sikelianos: A Life in Ruins
This is the first biography to tell the fascinating story of Eva Palmer Sikelianos (1874–1952), an American actor, director, composer, and weaver best known for reviving the Delphic Festivals.
-
On Influence: Robert Hayden in Dakar
After having a conversation about a novel I’ve since forgotten, my undergraduate literature professor at the University of Michigan gave me a paperback copy of Robert Hayden’s Collected Poems.
-
Sharon Marcus on The Drama of Celebrity
Why do so many people care so much about celebrities? Who decides who gets to be a star? What are the privileges and pleasures of fandom? Do celebrities ever deserve the outsized attention they receive?
