Duncan Wu (born 3 November 1961 in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

) is a British academic and biographer.

Biography

Wu received his D.Phil from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. From 2000-2008, he was Professor of

English Language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

and Literature at St Catherine's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He is now the Raymond Wagner Professor of Literary Studies in the English Department at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in Washington DC. Wu joined St Catherine's in 2000 as university lecturer, and in 2003 became Professor of English Language and Literature. Before that, he was reader and then professor of English literature at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, 1995–2000, and before that he was a research fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

, 1991-4. His first book, ''Wordsworth's reading 1770-1799'', was published in 1993. His popular textbook, ''Romanticism: An Anthology'', went to a third edition in 2005. Besides several other books about Wordsworth, he has written about contemporary British drama, the fiction of William S. Burroughs, and the non-fiction of

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

and

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary criticism, literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history ...

. He worked with Alasdair Gray on his ''Book of Prefaces'' and is a regular contributor to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and other British newsprints. His latest volume, ''William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man'', was published by Oxford University Press in the UK on 20 October 2008. He is also vice-chairman of The Charles Lamb Society, trustee of The Keats-Shelley Memorial Association, and a founder member and former chairman of The Hazlitt Society. Wu's interests include music, books, and

monster trucks A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock ...

In other media

In November 2013, Wu was interviewed, as scholar, for the documentary '' Poetry of Witness'', directed by independent filmmakers Billy Tooma and Anthony Cirilo, alongside his Georgetown University colleague,

Carolyn Forché Carolyn Forché (born April 28, 1950) is an American poet, editor, professor, translator, and human rights advocate. She has received many awards for her literary work. Biography Forché was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Michael Joseph and Louise ...

Partial bibliography

Works written by Wu include: * ''Wordsworth's reading 1770-1799'' Cambridge University Press, 1993, * * ''Selected Writings of William Hazlitt'' (9 vols., 1998) ** * ''Making Plays''

Macmillan Publishers Limited Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

, 2000, * ''Wordsworth: An Inner Life'', Wiley, 2002, * ''Wordsworth's Poets'' Carcanet, 2006, * ;Edited * *

References

External links

Official University web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Duncan 1961 births People from Woking Georgetown University faculty English biographers Living people Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Academics of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of Glasgow