Harold I. Bloom, Sterling Professor of Humanities and a Yale alumnus, has received the prestigious Gold Medal for Belles Lettres and Criticism from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award, given every six years to honor the distinguished career of a literary critic, was presented May 19 during a ceremony in New York City. Bloom, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, has been hailed by many as "the finest contemporary American critic." He is a specialist in English and American poetry and in the theory of criticism. His particular interest is Romanticism in poetry. An outspoken figure, Bloom often has been quoted in the popular press about controversial issues in literature and academia. One Boston Globe critic stated: "Bloom without the urge to shock would no longer be Bloom." He is the author of 23 books, including the 1970 work "Yeats," which was one of the nominees in the Arts and Letters category of the National Book Awards. Bloom's 1973 work, "The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry," was praised by a New York Times reviewer who wrote, "Bloom has helped to make the study of Romantic poetry as intellectually and spiritually challenging a branch of literary studies as one may find." His work "Ruin the Sacred Truths: Poetry and Belief from the Bible to the Present" won Phi Beta Kappa's 1989 Christian Gauss Award for an outstanding work of literary scholarship or criticism. Among Bloom's other critically acclaimed books are "The Visionary Company," "Kabbalah and Criticism," "Poetry and Repression," "A Map of Misreading," "Agon: Towards a Theory of Revisionism," "Wallace Stevens: The Poems of Our Climate," "The Book of J," "The Western Canon," "Omens of Millnnuium," "The American Religion" and "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human." Bloom joined the Yale faculty as an instructor in 1955, the year he received a Ph.D. from the University. (He earned his bachelor's degree from Cornell University.) He became assistant professor in 1960. In 1963, Bloom was promoted to associate professor, and two years later, at age 35, he was appointed professor of English -- making him one of the youngest scholars in Yale history to become a full professor in the department of English. He was the William Clyde DeVane Professor of Humanities, 1974-77, and became professor of humanities in 1977 and Sterling Professor of Humanities in 1983. In 1988 he was named the Berg Visiting Professor of English at New York University, holding that post simultaneously with his Yale ap-pointment. He has held numerous other visiting professorships. Bloom has been editor and introducer of Chelsea House Modern Critical Views and Interpretations since 1984. He was awarded the John Addison Porter Prize for his doctoral dissertation in 1955, and since then has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. They include the Melville Cane Award from the Poetry Society of America and the Zabel Prize of the American Institute of Arts and Letters. He received Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships, and in 1985 was awarded a MacArthur Prize "genius grant." He is a member of the American Philosophical Society. Among his other honorary degrees, he holds one from the University of Bologna. T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S Alumni elect Roland W. Betts as new trustee To the Yale Community Murder on the Nile? Examination suggests Peabody mummy met with . . . Study shows quality of child care affects school performance Endowed Professorships Literary critic Harold Bloom awarded Gold Medal . . . Academy of Arts and Sciences taps three Yale faculty Exhibit recalls art and poetry inspired by the Great War Downtown program will add local flavor to International Festival . . . Show by Peabody artists among Yale-related events during festival Boredom with board games prompts Green to invent new one Beinecke Library acquires papers of noted theater director The University honors its long-serving staff members Three Yale teachers are selected as Guggenheim Fellows Schell Center for International Human Rights announces new appointments . . . Traveling fellowships are awarded for students' research Downs Fellows to study health issues around the world during the summer Students make cross-country trek on behalf of charity Summer Cabaret marks 25th year of 'ambitious theater' Tours of historic Grove Street Cemetery are being offered How to order extra copies of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar Campus Notes Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events| Bulletin Board Classified Ads|Search Archives|Production Schedule|Bulletin Staff Public Affairs Home|News Releases|E-Mail Us|Yale Home Page

 Harold I. Bloom