author
George Frisbie Whicher
1889–1954
A longtime Amherst College professor, he wrote lively, readable literary criticism and is especially remembered for a widely admired study of Emily Dickinson. His work moved easily between biography, criticism, and teaching, with a gift for making literature feel close at hand.
1 Audiobook
The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood
by George Frisbie Whicher
About the author
Born in 1889, George Frisbie Whicher studied at Amherst College and then at Columbia before returning to Amherst, where he taught English from 1915 until his death in 1954. He was also connected with the Bread Loaf School of English, where he and his wife Harriet Fox Whicher were part of a lively literary circle.
Whicher wrote across several corners of literary history, but his best-known book was This Was a Poet (1938), a critical biography of Emily Dickinson that earned lasting notice. Records of his work also show a steady interest in earlier literature and literary biography, including studies of figures such as Eliza Haywood, along with essays, translations, and books shaped by his life as a teacher.
What makes him interesting now is the blend of scholar and classroom guide. Even in brief references from contemporaries, he comes across as a memorable presence—someone who brought personality and energy to literature rather than treating it as a museum piece.