Richard Poirier
Richard Poirier (born Gloucester, Massachusetts, September 9, 1925, died New York City, August 15, 2009) was an American literary critic.
He co-founded the Library of America, and served as chairman of its board. He was the Marius Bewley Professor of American and English Literature at Rutgers University. He was also the editor of Raritan, a literary quarterly, and an editor of Partisan Review. He was series editor of Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards from 1961 to 1966.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
Works
Stories British and American (1953) with Jack Barry Ludwig
The Comic Sense of Henry James: A Study of the Early Novels (1960)
In Defense of Reading : A Reader's Approach to Literary Criticism (1963) editor with Reuben A. Brower
A World Elsewhere: The Place of Style in American Literature (1966)
American Literature: Volume Two (Little, Brown 1970) editor with William L. Vance
