Christopher Benfey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Christopher Benfey
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| Born | October 28, 1954 (age 70) Merion, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Subject | Emily Dickinson |
| Notable works | Degas in New Orleans: Encounters in the Creole World of Kate Chopin and George Washington |
Christopher Benfey was born on October 28, 1954. He is an American writer and expert on books. He is especially known for his studies of the poet Emily Dickinson. Benfey teaches English as a professor at Mount Holyoke College.
Early Life and Schooling
Christopher Benfey was born in Merion, Pennsylvania. He spent most of his childhood in Richmond, Indiana. He went to The Putney School. His father came from Germany. His mother was from North Carolina.
Benfey started college at Earlham College. His father, Otto Theodor Benfey, taught chemistry there. He finished his first degree at Guilford College. Later, Benfey earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. This advanced degree was in Comparative Literature. This means he studied literature from different countries.
What Does Christopher Benfey Do?
Christopher Benfey is an expert in American literature. He focuses on books from the 1800s and 1900s. He is also a well-known essay writer and critic. His writings have appeared in many famous magazines. These include The Atlantic and The New York Times Sunday Book Review. He has also written for The New Republic and The New York Review of Books. For a time, he was an art critic for Slate magazine.
He has been a professor at Mount Holyoke College since 1989. He holds a special teaching position there. Benfey has also received important awards. He was a Guggenheim fellow. He also received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. These awards help scholars do their research and writing.
Books by Christopher Benfey
Christopher Benfey has written several books. These books often explore connections between art, history, and famous people.
- Degas in New Orleans: Encounters in the Creole World of Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable (1999)
- The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the Opening of Old Japan (2003)
- A Summer of Hummingbirds: Love, Art, and Scandal in the Intersecting Worlds of Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Martin Johnson Heade (2008)
- American Audacity: Literary Essays North and South (2010)
- Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay (2012)
