Elizabeth Bruce Hardwick (July 27, 1916 – December 2, 2007) was an American

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, 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 analysis of literature' ...

, novelist, and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Bruce Hardwick was born as the eighth of eleven children in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, on July 27, 1916, to strict

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

parents, the daughter of Eugene Allen Hardwick, a plumbing and heating contractor, and Mary (née Ramsey) Hardwick. She graduated from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

with a BA in 1938 and with an MA in 1939. She then entered the PhD program at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, though withdrew from graduate study in 1941 to concentrate on writing. She was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1947.

Career

In 1959, Hardwick published "The Decline of Book Reviewing" in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', a generally harsh and even scathing critique of book reviews published in American periodicals of the time. She published four books of criticism: ''A View of My Own'' (1962), ''Seduction and Betrayal'' (1974), ''Bartleby in Manhattan'' (1983), and ''Sight-Readings'' (1998). In 1961, she edited ''The Selected Letters of William James''. The 1962 New York City newspaper strike helped inspire Hardwick,

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

, Jason Epstein, Barbara Epstein, and

Robert B. Silvers Robert Benjamin Silvers (December 31, 1929 – March 20, 2017) was an American editor who served as editor of ''The New York Review of Books'' from 1963 to 2017. Raised on Long Island, New York, Silvers graduated from the University of Chicag ...

to found ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'', a publication that became as much a habit for many readers as ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', which Hardwick had eviscerated in her 1959 essay. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Hardwick taught writing seminars at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

and

's School of the Arts, Writing Division. She gave forthright critiques of student writing and was a mentor to students she considered promising. She was elected a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1996. In 2000, she published a short biography, ''Herman Melville'', in Viking Press's Penguin Lives series. In 2008, the

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...

selected Hardwick's account of Caryl Chessman's crimes for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American True Crime writing. A collection of her short fiction, ''The New York Stories of Elizabeth Hardwick'', was published

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

in 2010, as was ''The Collected Essays of Elizabeth Hardwick'' in 2017. In 2021, Cathy Curtis published a biography of Hardwick, '' A Splendid Intelligence: The Life of Elizabeth Hardwick''.

Personal life

From July 28, 1949, until their eventual divorce in 1972, Hardwick was married to

, the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

‐winning poet from the prominent

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism, and traditional Britis ...

family. Despite the difficulties of their often tumultuous union, Hardwick maintained that Lowell was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Their daughter was Harriet Lowell. Hardwick died in a

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

hospital on December 2, 2007, aged 91.

Published works

Fiction

* * * * (Posthumous; edited by Darryl Pinckney)

Nonfiction

* * * * * (Published as part of the

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

Lives Series) * (Posthumous; edited by Darryl Pinckney) * (Posthumous; edited by Alex Andriesse)

References

External links

Elizabeth Hardwick Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

.
Guide to the Elizabeth Hardwick manuscript, 1955
housed at the

Libraries Special Collections Research Center. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardwick, Elizabeth 1916 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers American literary critics American women literary critics American women non-fiction writers American women novelists American women short story writers Columbia University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Novelists from Kentucky The New York Review of Books people The New York Review of Books University of Kentucky alumni Writers from Lexington, Kentucky Writers from Manhattan Novelists from New York City