Discipline: Literature

Elder Olson

Discipline: Literature
Region: Chicago, IL
MacDowell Fellowships: 1958
Elder Olson (1909-1992) was an American poet, teacher, and literary critic. After graduating with a B.A. in 1934, he was awarded an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1935. The same year he received a Friends of Literature award. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1938 from the University of Chicago with the dissertation, General Prosody, Rhythmis, Metric, Harmonic. He became a founder and leading figure of the so-called "Chicago school" of literary criticism. In 1942, he started teaching at the University of Chicago as an assistant professor in the Department of English. In 1955 he was presented with the Poetry Society of America Chap-book Award. He gained full professorship in 1955 and was named Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of English in 1973. During his career he traveled abroad several times as a visiting professor, but he remained a member of the university faculty until his retirement in 1977.

Studios

Sorosis

Elder Olson worked in the Sorosis studio.

Sorosis Studio was funded by the New York Carol Club of Sorosis. The small, masonry studio was designed by F. Winsor, Jr., the architect who also designed Savidge Library (1926) and Mixter Studio (1927). At the time of construction, the large porch on the southeast façade offered a spectacular mountain view that has since been obscured…

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