Morton Dauwen Zabel

Morton Dauwen Zabel was an American academic and literary critic. He was the editor-in-chief of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse from 1936 to 1937, taught at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro from 1944 to 1946 and then the University of Chicago from 1947 to 1964. According to the Poetry Foundation, he was "an important force in mid-20th century American letters."

Early life

Zabel was born in 1901 in Minnesota Lake, Minnesota. He graduated from St. Thomas Military College, where he earned a bachelor's degree. He earned a master's degree from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1933.

Zabel was an associate editor of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse from 1928 to 1936, and its editor-in-chief from 1936 to 1937. He was the first professor of North American Literature at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro from 1944 to 1946. He was a professor of English at the University of Chicago from 1947 to 1964.
Zabel authored or edited books about Henry James and Joseph Conrad. He wrote introductions in books by Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, Henry James, and he reviewed books and wrote essays for The New Republic, Partisan Review, The Nation, and The Southern Review. According to the Poetry Foundation, he was "an important force in mid-20th century American letters."

Zabel never married. He died on April 29, 1964, in Chicago. His funeral was held at the St John's Catholic Church in Minnesota Lake, where he was buried. Zabel is the namesake of the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Morton Dauwen Zabel Award.