Sven Birkerts (born 21 September 1951) is an American essayist and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

. He is best known for his book ''The Gutenberg Elegies'' (1994), which posits a decline in reading due to the overwhelming advances of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

and other technologies of the "electronic culture." In 2006 he published a revised edition with new introduction and afterword, reflecting on the endurance of reading. Birkerts was born in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Found ...

, and grew up in the metropolitan

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

area. He graduated from Cranbrook School and from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1973. After publishing several well-received books of collected essays on literature, Birkerts was appointed to many prominent editorial and teaching positions. He became the Director of the Bennington College Writing Seminars, a position he assumed after the death of Liam Rector. Birkerts was the editor of ''

AGNI Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hi ...

'', the literary journal and has taught writing at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...

, and

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

. He lives in

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village w ...

, with his wife Lynn. He has two children, Mara and Liam. His father was noted architect

Gunnar Birkerts Gunnar Birkerts ( lv, Gunārs Birkerts, January 17, 1925 – August 15, 2017) was a Latvian American architect who, for most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan. Some of his notable designs include the Corni ...

, who based his practice in the Detroit area after immigrating to the United States following completion of his architectural degree in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

. He was born and grew up in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, leaving as a young man before the Soviet Army occupied the nation in the last days of World War II.

Works

* ''An Artificial Wilderness: Essays on 20th Century Literature''. (1987). New York: William Morrow. * ''The Electric Life: Essays on Modern Poetry''. (1989). New York: William Morrow. * ''American Energies: Essays on Fiction''. (1992). New York: William Morrow. * ''The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age''. (1994). Boston: Faber and Faber. * ''Readings''. (1999). St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press. * ''My Sky Blue Trades: Growing Up Counter in a Contrary Time''. (2002). New York: Viking. * ''The Other Walk''. (2011). St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press. * ''Changing the Subject: Art and Attention in the Internet Age''. (2015). St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birkerts, Sven 1951 births University of Michigan alumni Harvard University faculty Bennington College faculty Living people Emerson College faculty Mount Holyoke College faculty People from Arlington, Massachusetts People from Pontiac, Michigan Writing teachers Cranbrook Educational Community alumni American people of Latvian descent Writers from Michigan Writers from Massachusetts Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American essayists