Herman Melville

Frederic Newton Arvin (1900-1963) was an American literary critic and academic best known for his acclaimed biographies of 19th-century authors including Hawthorne (1929), Whitman (1938), Herman Melville (1950, National Book Award winner), and Longfellow (1963). He taught English at Smith College for 38 years, earning tenure without a doctorate and influencing students like Sylvia Plath, until forced retirement in 1960 amid a scandal over possessing materials deemed obscene. His legacy endures through the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism named in his honor.