Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Paul Murray Kendall Chair in Biography and Professor of English
Faculty Bio
Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina is the Paul Murray Kendall Chair in Biography, and Professor of English. After five years as dean of Commonwealth Honors College at UMass, she is now fully in the Department of English.
A specialist on the novel and biography, she works in the fields of Black British studies; Victorian studies (including Victorian children’s literature); African American women’s writing (especially Toni Morrison), and mixed race studies. She has published nine books in these fields, with two more in the works, and has published numerous articles and reviews.
In addition, she works extensively in the media in both Britain and America. She hosted a nationally-syndicated author interview program on American public radio for fifteen years, and appears regularly in podcasts and on British radio, including hosting a ten-part BBC radio series “Britain’s Black Past,” among other appearances. She lectures regularly to universities and conferences in both countries, most recently to Oxford, Exeter, MIT, and the British Association of Victorian Studies.
More information is available at Gretchen Gerzina's Website.