Philip Nel

Philip Nel is University Distinguished Professor of English at an American university with an ambiguous relationship to academic freedom. He is also the author or co-editor of 15 books, including: a double-biography of the children’s writers Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss, Keywords for Children’s Literature, and Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature and the Need for Diverse Books. This book was one of the catalysts for Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ March 2021 decision to stop publishing six Dr. Seuss books that contain racist imagery.

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Author portrait by Eric Reynolds.