William J. Maxwell

William J. Maxwell is a 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 dozens of FBI files on African American authors and literary institutions obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. He lives with his family in St. Louis, Missouri.