Alfred, William, 1922-1999

William Alfred (1922-1999) was a playwright, poet and beloved Harvard professor specializing in early English literature. He was born in Brooklyn in 1922 to working-class parents, served in the Army tank corp in World War II, and received his doctoral degree in English from Harvard in 1954 before joining the faculty, where he stayed until 1991. Alfred's works include: Hogan's Goat, Agamemnon, The Curse of an Aching Heart, and Nothing Doing. Luminaries he taught, influenced, or corresponded with include: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Stockard Channing, John Lithgow, Gertrude Stein, Archibald MacLeish, and Robert Lowell. Alfred was the recipient of the New York Drama Desk Award, and served on the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award poetry panels.

From the description of William Alfred letter, 1957. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 420200899

Alfred was an American playwright and the Lawrence Lowell Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University.

From the description of Papers : concerning adaptations of Agamemnon and The scarlet letter, 1946-1947 and undated. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78076401

Alfred was an American playwright and the Lawrence Lowell professor of the Humanities at Harvard University.

From the guide to the William Alfred papers concerning adaptations of, Agamemnon, and, The scarlet letter, 1946-1947 and undated., (Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)