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Paul Murray Kendall Chair in Biography and Professor of English in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina will deliver the first Distinguished Faculty Lecture of 2023 entitled "Forgotten Lives: What They Mean, and Why They’re Important" on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 4 p.m. in Old Chapel. The lecture will be held in Old Chapel at 4 p.m., followed by a question and answer session and a reception.

An internationally acclaimed scholar widely known for her involvement in British literary and cultural studies, Holbrook Gerzina's award-winning work often explores forgotten lives, reaching beyond the field of literary studies and has made significant contributions to scholarship in history, art history, and African American studies.

Holbrook Gerzina has dedicated her career to illuminating the lives of others as the author or editor of nine influential books, with two more in progress. Her work, which is both exacting and visionary, brings to light unknown facets of the lives of well-known figures as well as the lives of those overlooked by history.

“I’m fascinated by people’s lives and how they lived them,” she says in a 2021 interview that highlighted her as a UMass Amherst Spotlight Scholar.

Her prowess is widely acknowledged: Holbrook Gerzina has received a Fulbright Scholar award and two National Endowment for the Humanities grants. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017 and to the American Antiquarian Society in 2019, and is in demand as a speaker, panelist, and podcaster in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Most recently, an updated edition of her book Black London was published in the U.K. under the new title "Black England: A Forgotten Georgian History," with a foreword by Zadie Smith.