John R. Maynard

John R. Maynard is an American literary scholar whose work focuses on Victorian literature, literary theory, and the relationship between literature, culture, and sexuality. More recently, he has focused on writing and publishing poetry, including one volume published and two accepted for publication next year.

He is professor emeritus of English at New York University (NYU), where he taught from 1974 until his retirement in 2017.

Biography Maynard was born in 1941 in Williamsville, New York. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and Literature, graduating summa cum laude, from Harvard University in 1963. He remained at Harvard for his graduate studies, receiving a Ph.D. in English in 1970.

Career After completing his doctorate, Maynard taught at Harvard as an assistant professor until 1974. That year, he joined the English Department at NYU, progressing from assistant to associate, and ultimately full professor by 1984. He chaired the department from 1983 to 1989 and later served as the chair of the university's Faculty Senators Council. His published works include studies on poets such as Poet Robert Browning and Novelist Charlotte Brontë, and examinations of Victorian discourses on religion and sexuality. has appeared and two, What's It Like To Be Old and Being in Time and Change, have been accepted for publication in 2026.

Awards and recognition Maynard has received numerous fellowships and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, and the Thomas J. Wilson Prize.

Maynard has also been recognized with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who, and holds memberships in prestigious academic organizations, including the Modern Language Association and PEN.

Selected publications