Remembering Anne Greene
Yesterday we sent word to the campus that Wesleyan’s beloved writing professor Anne Greene had passed away. As word spread, I began receiving very moving tributes to a teacher who opened up worlds or poetry and prose, of memoir, biography, and fiction, to thousands of students over decades. Novelist Amy Bloom ’75, Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, Emerita, recalled meeting Anne more than 50 years ago when they established a friendship that endured through their many changes during that period. New York Review of Books editor Emily Greenhouse ’08 said simply that Anne had completely changed her life, while writer Alexander Chee ’89 added, “There was no one like her. Loving, shrewd, glamorous, funny, she ran that summer conference like the director of an orchestra.”
I’m sure I’ll receive dozens more remembrances of Anne, whose fierce generosity enriched the lives of friends, family, students, and colleagues. May her memory be a blessing.
Dear Friends,
I am sorry to inform you that Anne F. Greene, University Professor of English, Emerita, passed away on May 12, 2025, at the age of 76.
Anne pursued graduate work at Princeton University, received her MA from Brandeis University, and her BA from Harvard College. She arrived at Wesleyan in 1975 and taught writing here for 47 years until her retirement in 2022. Anne directed Wesleyan’s writing programs and Writing Workshop for decades. Beloved by countless students, she was the 2006 recipient of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
“Anne built Wesleyan’s writing program and boldly did so without the protection of tenure,” recalled Professor of East Asian Studies Lisa Dombrowski. “She created opportunities for generations of students to flourish not only in the classroom, but also as writing tutors, writing mentors, Ford Foundation Fellows, staff members, and participants in the Writers Conference, and out in the world as professional writers and editors. When I was a student, Anne’s encouragement enabled me to imagine a life in academia.”
Professor of the Practice in Letters Charles Barber said, “I will always be indebted to Anne because she took a chance on me and brought me to Wesleyan. Come to think of it, she nurtured hundreds of young writers and made Wesleyan and the Wesleyan Writers Conference a kind of national epicenter for creative writers.” Anne’s former student and trustee emeritus Joseph J. Fins ’82, Hon. ’22 wrote that he stands “in a long line of authors who deeply respect her opinion and ever will be grateful for her sound counsel and encouragement.”
“Anne was a force, brilliant, profoundly elegant, and deeply sensitive,” remembered Professor of Art Tula Telfair. “Her passion for literature, her relentless need to engage with the deepest questions that inspire creativity, and her disarming wit marked her presence on this planet. The silence left by her absence is very loud.”
Erik Grimmer-Solem, Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Professor in the College of Social Studies, remembered Anne as “a strikingly elegant and refined person with an uncanny ability to make everyone around her feel appreciated. Her love of writing was infectious, and more than any other person she developed Wesleyan’s exceptional program mentoring academic writing across the curriculum. Her commitment to this work was total—Nat had to almost pry her from her desk each Friday.”
Professor Emeritus of English and Letters Khachig Tölölyan said that while he and Anne talked about everything over 50 years, “her unwavering, core commitment was to literature and the practice of writing. For her, attentive reading was a precondition for writing well. Together, they were paths to intellectual excellence and even enlightenment, ways of making better texts and even, possibly, better selves.” Professor of History Cecilia Miller recalled, “Early in my first year at Wesleyan, Anne Greene invited me to lunch at the old faculty club. She was astonishing. She asked about my research and writing, and we talked about books. Even during one of my very recent visits with Anne, we were still talking about books, especially Don Quixote.”
“When she was in her prime, she was a quiet dynamo, who whirred among teaching, reading incessantly, directing the writing program, inviting and hosting guest speakers and writers, and having the occasional lunch with friends,” recalled Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek Andrew Szegedy-Maszak. “I see her sitting in her office, surrounded by stacks of books and papers. She was unfailingly gracious and charming, and she had a marvelous laugh.”
Anne is survived by her husband of nearly 50 years, Professor of History Nathanael Greene, and by her son Matthew H. Greene; her brothers Edward D. Frank II and his wife Susan Lea, and John B. Frank and his wife Diann; her stepson Jeffrey P. Greene; her stepson Jonathan N. Greene; her stepdaughter Elizabeth D. Hart; and step-grandchildren Timothy Hart, Katherine Hart, Alexandra Hart, Bella Greene, and Ila Greene.
A celebration of Anne’s life and many contributions will be held this fall at a date and time to be determined. Gifts may be made through Wesleyan to The Anne Greene Internships in the Literary Arts Fund, a fund established in Anne's memory to support internships in writing, journalism, publishing, and criticism.
