Blackburn, William, 1899-1972

Author, editor, and professor of English and literary composition at Duke University from 1926 until 1969.

From the description of William Blackburn papers, 1859-1985 and undated. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 557485521

William Blackburn was an author, editor, and professor of English and literary composition at Duke University from 1926 until 1969. Born in 1899 to missionaries in Persia, Blackburn spent his childhood in Seneca, South Carolina, and completed his undergraduate studies at Furman University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1943. His academic scholarship was on Elizabethan poetry; later in his career, he also edited the letters of Joseph Conrad.

Blackburn's influence at Duke, however, stems from his creative writing classes, where he taught and inspired many students who went on to become prominent contemporary writers. His former students include Fred Chappell, William Styron, Reynolds Price, James Applewhite, and Anne Tyler.

From the guide to the William Blackburn Papers, 1859-1985, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)