Claude J. Summers

Claude J. Summers (born 1944) is an American literary scholar, and the William E. Stirton Professor Emeritus in the Humanities and Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He taught at the university from 1970 until his retirement in 2002. He was promoted to associate professor in 1973 and professor in 1977. He became the William E. Stirton Professor in Humanities in 1989, and became professor emeritus in 2002. He has published extensively on 17th and 20th century English literature. With Ted-Larry Pebworth, he established the University of Michigan-Dearborn Renaissance Conferences. He also was general editor of glbtq.com, an online encyclopedia that presents detailed biographies of notable gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. He is the recipient of a Lambda Literary Award for The Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage and several of his books have been designated "Outstanding Scholarly Books" by the American Library Association. In 2008, he received the Monette-Horwitz Trust Award for his efforts in combating homophobia.

Summers has a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University and a masters and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. In 2013, he and his frequent collaborator, Ted-Larry Pebworth, were married on the fiftieth anniversary of their relationship. They reside in New Orleans, where they have lived since their retirement from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Selected writings

• Summers, Claude, ed. The Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage. New York: Henry Holt, 1995; rev. ed., Routledge, 2002.

• Summers, Claude. Gay Fictions / Wilde to Stonewall: Studies in a Male Homosexual Literary Tradition. New York: Continuum, 1990.

• Summers, Claude. E.M. Forster. New York: Ungar, 1983.

• Summers, Claude. Christopher Isherwood. New York: Ungar, 1980.

• Summers, Claude, and Ted-Larry Pebworth. Ben Jonson Revised. New York: Twayne, 1999.