Background
Gurr, Andrew John was born on December 23, 1936 in Leicester, England. Son of John Vivian and Elsie Raynor (Dow) Gurr.
literary historian university professor author
Gurr, Andrew John was born on December 23, 1936 in Leicester, England. Son of John Vivian and Elsie Raynor (Dow) Gurr.
Bachelor of Arts, Auckland University, New Zealand, 1957, Master of Arts, 1958. Doctor of Philosophy, Cambridge U. (England), 1963. Junior lecturer VictoriaU., Wellington, New Zealand, 1959.
Lecturer Leeds University, England, 1962-1969.
Professor, head department Nairobi University, Kenya, 1969-1973. Senior lecturer Leeds University, 1973-1976.
Professor, head department Reading University, England, since 1976. Director Shakespeare International Globe Centre, London, since 1982.
Born in Leicester, Gurr was raised in New Zealand, and educated at the University of Auckland and at Cambridge University. He has taught at the Universities of Wellington, Leeds, and Nairobi (1969-1973). At the latter institution he was also head of his department.
He taught at the University of Reading before his retirement.
Gurr co-wrote a 1981 study of Katherine Mansfield (with Claire Hanson) and two books on African literature. But he is best known for his books on Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and the theatre of that historical era— books that are recognized and utilized as essential references on English Renaissance drama.
He has authored a wide range of articles for both scholarly journals and general-interest periodicals, and has edited several of Shakespeare"s plays and several plays in the John Fletcher canon. He was chief academic advisor to the project to rebuild the Globe Theatre in London and also advised on the construction of the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia, where he has also lectured at the Blackfriars Conference and for Mary Baldwin College"s M.Litt/Master of Fine Arts Program.
Foreign ten years (1988-1998), Gurr was the editor of the Modern Language Review.
Member of Association Commonwealth Literature & Language Studies, International Shakespeare Society, Malone Society, Society Theatre Research.
Married Elizabeth Ann Gordon Gurr, July 1, 1961. Children: Robin, Douglas, Corin.