Biography.guide
Home › People › Literary critic › Eric Sundquist
Portrait of Eric Sundquist

Eric Sundquist

b. 1952

American writer, academic and professor

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Eric Sundquist

Born 1952. Eric Sundquist is an American literary critic, journalist, literary scholar, university teacher, man of letters and scholar of English.

Eric Sundquist (born 1952) is an American scholar of the literature and culture of the United States. Sundquist earned his B.A. from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1978). Sundquist is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities Emeritus and former chair of the English Department at Johns Hopkins. He is a former member of the UCLA Department of English, and was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

Awards Sundquist was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1997 for contributions to his field. In 2006 he received the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Distinguished Achievement Award, the largest research award in the humanities.

Personal life

Sundquist is a close personal friend of noted literary scholar and jazz musician Michael Colacurcio. Sundquist is also married and has a few stepchildren. He has quite a few grandchildren whom he loves and adores. He currently resides in Virginia with his wife.

Books King's Dream: The Legacy of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (2009) Strangers in the Land: Blacks, Jews, Post-Holocaust America (2005) To Wake the Nations: Race in the Making of American Literature (1993), winner of the James Russell Lowell Prize from the Modern Language Association for best book published during the year, the Christian Gauss Award from Phi Beta Kappa for the best book in the humanities, and a Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award. The Hammers of Creation: Folk Culture in Modern African-American Fiction (1992) Faulkner: The House Divided (1983) Home as Found: Authority and Genealogy in Nineteenth-Century American Literature (1978)

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
University of Kansas, Johns Hopkins University
Employers
University of California, Los Angeles
Awards
James Russell Lowell Prize
Also known as
Eric J. Sundquist

People in Eric Sundquist's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Eric Sundquist's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Eric Sundquist?

American writer, academic and professor

When was Eric Sundquist born?

Eric Sundquist was born on 21 August 1952.

What is Eric Sundquist's occupation?

Eric Sundquist is a literary critic, journalist, literary scholar, university teacher, man of letters and scholar of English.

What nationality is Eric Sundquist?

Eric Sundquist is American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Eric Sundquist

· Wikidata: Q5387588

· DBpedia: Eric Sundquist

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Eric Sundquist. https://biography.guide/eric-sundquist/

MLA: "Eric Sundquist." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/eric-sundquist/.

Chicago: "Eric Sundquist." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/eric-sundquist/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:10 UTC