Robert W. Hamblin

A native of northeast Mississippi, Hamblin holds degrees from Northeast Mississippi Community College, Delta State University, and the University of Mississippi. His first teaching position was at Sparrows Point High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, where as an assistant baseball coach he taught Ron Swoboda how to make diving catches like the one he made for the Miracle Mets in the 1969 World Series. Hamblin joined the English faculty at Southeast Missouri State University in 1965, where he taught for the next 50 years and was the founding director of the Center for Faulkner Studies. An internationally known William Faulkner scholar, he has lectured on Faulkner in Japan, China, Taiwan, Romania, the Netherlands, Canada, and England, as well as throughout the United States. He is the author or editor of more than 80 books, including literary criticism, poetry, novels, biographies, memoirs, and essays.