Elisa New

She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Maryland.[1] New's father was an engineer and computer scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and her mother worked as a party planner.[2] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University (1980), as well as a Master of Arts and PhD from Columbia University (1982 and 1988, respectively).

New's academic specialties include American poetry, American literature, religion in literature, and Jewish literature.[3] Before moving to Harvard, she taught at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the creator and host of the television show Poetry in America.[4] In May 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that a nonprofit linked to New received more than $100,000 from Jeffrey Epstein. [5]

She had three daughters with her first husband, Fred David Levine, who died in 2013. Before moving to Boston, Massachusetts, the family had resided in Miami, Florida. Levine was a member of the professional staff of the Anti-Defamation League, working in both the National and Florida Regional Offices.

On December 11, 2005, she married economist Lawrence Summers.[2]

• The Regenerate Lyric: Theology and Innovation in American Poetry. Cambridge University Press. 1993. ISBN 978-0-521-43021-0.
• The Line's Eye: Poetic Experience, American Sight. Harvard University Press. 1999. ISBN 978-0-674-53462-9.
• Jacob's Cane: A Jewish Family's Journey from the Four lands of Lithuania to the Ports of Baltimore and London. Basic Books. 2009. ISBN 978-0-465-01525-2.