Academic career
New's academic specialties include American poetry,American literature,religion in literature,and Jewish literature. [5]
New completed her PhD at Columbia University in 1988 after earning a BA at Brandeis University in 1980. [2] [6] In 1989,she joined the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania,where she taught for a decade before moving to Harvard University in 1999.
[2] At Harvard,New became the Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature. [2] She held departmental leadership roles in English and advised students in Harvard’s History and Literature concentration,and she developed online poetry courses in partnership with Harvard Extension School and the Harvard University Center for the Environment. [7]
Poetry in America
New is the creator and host of Poetry in America,a public television series which premiered in 2018. The show (and associated nonprofit,Verse Video Education),was funded in part by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. [8] [9] [10]
In 2016,Epstein donated $110,000 to spearhead the project. He also coordinated interviews with guests (including Woody Allen),and gave New creative input. New kept Epstein's involvement a secret from most of her staff. [11]
In 2017,following renewed allegations that Woody Allen had sexually assaulted his adoptive daughter,the show's staff insisted that Allen's upcoming episode be pulled from the show. Facing opposition from New,they threatened to remove their names from the credits if the episode aired. [12] New ultimately agreed to pull the episode,then wrote to Epstein in secret that she would "keep the "bootleg" episode and hope to release it someday." [13]
In 2022,the show's presenting station,WGBH,cut ties with Poetry in America after learning of Epstein's initial financial contribution to the show. Poetry in America then moved to Arizona PBS for its fourth season. [14]
In 2025,following evidence of Epstein's continued financial and creative involvement Poetry in America through 2019,PBS announced that it would stop distributing the show entirely,canceling its fifth season,and removing all prior seasons from its platforms. [15]
