Anna Beer

Who is Anna Beer?

Anna Beer is a writer, lecturer and researcher who specialises in the literature and culture of sixteenth and seventeenth century England. She was Lecturer in Literature at the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford between 2003 and 2010, and remains a Fellow of Kellogg College. She has published two literary biographies: Bess: The Life of Lady Raleigh, Wife to Sir Walter and, in celebration of the subject's quatercentenary, Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot. Peter Ackroyd describes the latter as, among other things, "a persuasive reading of the power and complexity of Paradise Lost," while former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion esteems it "a reliable guide to nonspecialists" and "the anniversary present he [Milton] deserves." Philip Pullman called it 'a beautifully clear account of a richly complex life...Fascinatingly vivid...It's the best narrative I've read of the life of our greatest public poet'. The first biography of Bess Ralegh was also received well: 'Anna Beer tells a fascinating story wonderfully well...A brilliant blend of biography, political narrative and social history'.

Beer's peculiar interest as a biographer is "the relationship between literature, politics and history," which informs especially her life of Milton. Her Milton podcast can be found on http://media.conted.ox.ac.uk/video/johnmilton.mp4?CAMEFROM=podcastsGET.