Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 18, 2005|Volume 33, Number 22

Harold Bloom

Bloom to be honored with
Hans Christian Andersen Award

Literary critic Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities and English, will receive the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2005 in Odense, Denmark, on April 2 as part of the launch of a year-long 200th birthday celebration for the renowned story-teller.

The $60,000 award recognizes Bloom's contribution to understanding Andersen, the author of "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Match Girl" and "The Little Mermaid," among dozens of well-known fairy tales.

In announcing the award, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark credited Bloom for recognizing "the darker, disturbing and demanding aspects of Andersen's authorship" and commended the critic for including Andersen's "The Red Shoes" in his 2002 anthology "Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages." "By ranking Andersen among the literary geniuses of the 19th-century, such as Dickens and Tolstoy, Professor Bloom casts new light on Andersen's modern relevance," the prince said, referring to the inclusion of a volume on Andersen in the series "Bloom's Modern Critical Views." Owing in part to the critical essays Bloom selected and his introduction to them, "the world will get to know the poet in full figure," the prince commented.

Bloom has been a major voice in literary and academic circles for over three decades, ever since publication of his seminal book, "The Anxiety of Influence" in 1973. He has written more than two dozen books on a range of topics, including "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human" (a 1998 National Book Award finalist), "The Western Canon," "How to Read and Why," "Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds," "Hamlet: Poem Unlimited" and "Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?" He has also edited numerous anthologies of poetry and critical essays. The series (published by Chelsea House), of which Andersen is the latest addition, consists of close to 150 volumes, ranging alphabetically from "African American Poets" to "Emile Zola."

Bloom is a MacArthur Prize fellow; a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters; and the recipient of many awards, including the Academy's Gold Medal for Criticism. He holds honorary degrees from the universities of Rome and Bologna, and he received the Catalonia International Prize in 2002.

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