Coleman, Elliott, 1906-1980

Biographical Note: Elliott Coleman (1906-80) was a poet and founder and director of The Writing Seminars at The Johns Hopkins University.

Coleman was born in 1906 in Binghamton, N.Y. the son of a clergyman. He graduated from Wheaton College in 1928, taught at The Asheville School in Asheville, N.C., and studied at the Princeton Theological School and the General Theological Seminary in 1940. Coleman was ordained an Episcopal deacon in New York where he also worked for Henry Holt & Co. (1942-43) and Doubleday & Co. (1943-45). In 1945 he went to The Johns Hopkins University to reorganize the freshman writing course. Coleman organized the Department of Writing, Speech and Drama, predecessor of The Writing Seminars. He headed this department until his retirement in 1975. In addition to his teaching and research on literary criticism, Coleman published more than a dozen volumes of poetry.

From the description of Coleman (Elliott) papers, 1932-1980. (Johns Hopkins University). WorldCat record id: 48394081