Elisa New

Elisa New, born in 1958 in Philadelphia and raised in Maryland, serves as the Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature at Harvard University, where she has made significant contributions to the study of American poetry and literature. After earning her BA from Brandeis University in 1980 and her MA and PhD from Columbia University in 1982 and 1988 respectively, she has established herself as a leading voice in American literary studies. Her scholarly work spans American poetry, religion in literature, and Jewish literature, with major publications including "The Regenerate Lyric: Theology and Innovation in American Poetry" (1992), "The Line's Eye: Poetic Experience, American Sight" (1999), "Jacob's Cane: A Jewish Family's Journey" (2009), and "New England Beyond Criticism" (2014). Beyond her academic work, she has created and hosts the television series "Poetry in America," bringing poetry to broader audiences through public television. New teaches classic American literature from Anne Bradstreet through Marilynne Robinson, covering the Puritan era to contemporary times. Her personal life includes three daughters from her first marriage to Fred David Levine, who passed away in 2013, and she has been married to economist Lawrence Summers since 2005. Currently, she continues to expand her influence through both traditional academic channels and innovative public education initiatives, with her forthcoming work "How to Read American Poetry" adding to her substantial body of scholarship.