LEVENBACK, Karen L. 1951-

PERSONAL:

Born November 11, 1951, in New York, NY; daughter of Gerald and Gloria Adele (Levin) Levenback; married Michael J. Neufeld (a curator), June 14, 1994. Education: State University of New York—Stony Brook, B.A., 1972; graduate study at Cornell University, 1974-75; Georgetown University, M.A., 1975; University of Maryland, Ph.D., 1981; attended Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1982, and University of Paris VII, 1983-84.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Virginia Woolf Miscellany, 304 Philadelphia Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Anatolia College, Thessaloniki, Greece, instructor in English as a foreign language, 1981-83; Institute of Applied Languages, Paris, France, instructor in English, 1984; George Washington University, Washington, DC, assistant professorial lecturer in English, 1984-2000. Montgomery College, lecturer, 1995-96; guest lecturer at other institutions, including University of Texas—Austin, 1991, University of Southern Colorado, 1992, and Smithsonian Institution, 1993. Thessaloniki Players, ombudsperson and member of board of directors, 1981-83. Nuclear-Free Takoma Park Committee, secretary, 2000-02.

MEMBER:

International Virginia Woolf Society (president, 1991-93), Modern Language Association of America, Amnesty International.

WRITINGS:

Virginia Woolf and the Great War, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1999.

Contributor to books, including Virginia Woolf and War: Fiction, Reality, and Myth, edited by Mark Hussey, Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 1991. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Milton Quarterly and Athenian. Associate editor, Woolf Studies Annual, 1994-99; book review editor, Virginia Woolf Miscellany, 2000—; member of editorial board, GW Forum, 1998-99.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Research on the teaching of national literatures of World War I.

SIDELIGHTS:

Karen L. Levenback told CA: "My book, Virginia Woolf and the Great War, filled a need and was begun at a time when civilians and particularly women had yet to find a recognized voice in war studies and war literature. My interest in Virginia Woolf and the Great War (World War I) grew from my interest in each and my sense of each as a touchstone to (using Woolf's phrase) life itself. In recognizing and highlighting the blurred lines between civilians and combatants, peace and war, Woolf, I felt, spoke not only to her own time and place in history, but to our own. My life and writings have a serendipitous and ironic relation to World War I, as well, my birthday falling on November 11, the day of the signing of the armistice that was to end the war to end all wars."