William J. Maxwell

William J. Maxwell is professor of English and African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of the widely acclaimed F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature, winner of a 2016 American Book Award, and New Negro, Old Left: African American Writing and Communism between the Wars. He is also the creator and curator of the “F.B. Eyes Digital Archive,” which presents high-resolution copies of the FBI files of African American authors obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. He lives with his family in St. Louis, Missouri.