Stephen Greenblatt Biography

Stephen Jay Greenblatt

The Mean Green, Steve "the Swerve" Greenblatt, Will.I.Ain't

Male

I was born in Boston, but I was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which I where I live now.

I'm totally the John Cogan Professor of the Humanities at Harvard, where I write and teach about Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and a lot of other things—including, of course, New Historicism.

I got my B.A. from Yale, my M.Phil. from Cambridge (I'm talking England, not my hometown in the U.S. of A.), and then I went back to Yale for my Ph.D. I've always been serious business.

Oh, I am so very glad that you asked. I'll be honest: you won't find me waving protest signs around anytime soon, but it's safe to say I lean to the left. I even wrote a pretty snazzy piece on Shakespeare and power after recalling a meeting with President Clinton at a White House dinner. Also, check out my guest spot on The Colbert Report—it's tops.

I don't bring it up in my work, really, but since you asked, I'm Jewish. My family emigrated from Russia in the 1890s to avoid the forced conscription of Jewish men in to the Russian army. Aside from that, though, I'm mostly interested in religion as a historical phenomenon.

Shakespeare
Lucretius
Ghosts
Exorcism
Revenge

Art for Art's Sake
New Criticism
Pokémon
Rumors
The Medieval Period

Early Modern (Renaissance) Literature and Culture
Writing Like a Boss
History
Non-Literary Texts
The Cardenio Project

Cultural Poets
The Shakespearians Meet the Jedis FanFic Writing Group
Bard Astrologers
New Historicists