Personal Details:
Born Dublin 15 September 1947, the only son of Charles Elliott Mc Cormack and Irene Mc Cormack (né King); married Sheelagh Grayson 1971 (separated 1996); one son, Simon Charles Mc Cormack.
Educated at Rathgar National School, Dublin (1952-1959);Wesley College Dublin (1959-1965);Trinity College (University of Dublin), BA 1971, MA 1974; New University of Ulster, DPhil 1974.
References:
/Larousse Dictionary of Writers (1994); The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature (1996); Modern Irish Lives; Dictionary of 20th Century Biography (1998); The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture (1999).
Bill Mc Cormack worked for fifteen years in British universities - 1974-1982 in the University of Leeds (lecturer in the School of English), and 1995-2002 in the University of London (Professor of Literary History, in the Department of English, Goldsmiths College). He has also held short visiting professor-ships in the universities of Antwerp, Budapest, Clemson, Georgetown, and Vienna. He now lives in County Monaghan, and acts as Librarian-in-Charge to the Edward Worth Library (Dublin).
His central area of concern has been Irish literature in English from Jonathan Swift to the present day. In addition, he has been active as an editor of Anthony Trollope's fiction, mainly for the World's Classics series. Describing himself as a literary historian, he has also employed perspectives deriving from bibliography, comparative studies, political and social history, psycho-analysis, and theology (including Judaica). He detests the vapidity of so-called cultural studies.