Michael J. Alexander

Michael J. Alexander

Michael Joseph Alexander (born 1941) is a British academic. He held the Berry Chair of English Literature at the University of St Andrews until his retirement in 2003. He is particularly well-known for his verse translation of Beowulf.

He was educated at Downside School, read English at Oxford University, then spent a year in France and in Italy, attending the University of Perugia. He then spent some years working in the publishing industry in London, interrupted by attending Princeton University. Before taking up his post at St. Andrews he was a lecturer at the University of Stirling.[1] He is now Emeritus Professor at St Andrews University. He has translated several works of Old English verse, his verse translation of Beowulf being singled out for particular praise.[2]

References

  1. ^ Biographical information at front of The Earliest English Poems translated by Michael Alexander, Penguin Classics 1972 reprint
  2. ^ St Andrews retirement page

External links