Elisa (Lisa) New | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958 (age 66–67) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Brandeis University (BA) Columbia University (MA, PhD) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | English Literature |
| Sub-discipline | American literature American poetry Jewish literature |
| Institutions | Arizona State University Harvard University University of Pennsylvania |
Elisa New (born 1958) is an American academic and author who hosts the PBS series Poetry in America. She is the director of the Educational Media Innovation Studio (EMIS) within the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University [1] [2] and the Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature,Emerita,at Harvard University.
She was born Jewish in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,and raised in Maryland. [2] New's father was an engineer and computer scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and her mother worked as a party planner. [3] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University in 1980,as well as a Master of Arts and PhD from Columbia University in 1982 and 1988,respectively. [4]
New's academic specialties include American poetry,American literature,religion in literature,and Jewish literature. [4]
New completed her PhD at Columbia University in 1988 after earning a BA at Brandeis University in 1980. [2] [5] 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. [6]
New is the creator and host of the television show Poetry in America,a PBS series which premiered in 2018 funded,in large part,by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. [7] [8] [9] The series is presented by Arizona PBS and WGBH,distributed by PBS Plus and American Public Television for PBS stations,and by PBSD for platforms like Amazon and iTunes. [10]
New's husband,Lawrence Summers,was in regular correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein between 2017 and 2019. [11] Their emails were released by the House Oversight Committee in November 2025. [12] [13] The correspondence between Summers and Epstein revealed that Epstein planned to donate $500,000 to New's Poetry in America. [12] In 2016,Epstein donated $110,000 to Verse Video Education,New's non-profit organization which funds Poetry in America. [12]
New and Epstein directly corresponded regarding the $500,000 donation. [12] Following a 2023 Wall Street Journal expose,a spokesperson for the non-profit reported that New "regrets accepting funding from Epstein". [12] [14] According to the spokesperson,the group later made a contribution "exceeding the amount received,to a group working against sex trafficking". [12]
In an email to Epstein released in 2025 by the House Oversight Committee,New mentioned a recorded but unreleased episode of Poetry in America featuring Woody Allen,who was introduced to New by Epstein. In an email to Epstein,New mentioned she would reread Lolita (a book Epstein was known to have by his bedside) and,separately,recommended he read My Ántonia by Willa Cather,describing both as stories of "a man whose whole life is stamped forever by his impression of a young girl". [15] [16]
In November 2025, The Boston Globe reported that New and Summers flew with Ghislaine Maxwell to Epstein's private island during their honeymoon. [17]
She had three daughters with her first husband,Fred David Levine,who died in 2013. [18] Before moving to Boston,Massachusetts,the family resided in Miami,Florida. [2]
On December 11,2005,she married economist Lawrence Summers. [3]
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