Media Kit
Eloisa has published over 30 historical romances, many of which have hit the bestseller lists. She also wrote a bestselling memoir, Paris in Love, as well as a contemporary novel, Lizzie and Dante. Her books are published in 28 languages and 30 countries, from Slovakia to Sweden. Worldwide, she has approximately 7 million books published in print or electronically. She lives in New York City and Florence, Italy.
Photo by Bryan Derballa
After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Her "double life” as a professor and romance writer is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.
Fast Facts
- Eloisa James is a professor of English literature, specializing in Shakespeare. She teaches at Fordham University in New York City. Oxford University Press published her academic book in 2000. After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale.
- With the exception of a year in Paris (during which she wrote her bestselling memoir, Paris in Love), and another in London, Eloisa lives in New York City during the school year and in Florence, Italy, during the summer. Her husband is a cavaliere, an Italian knight.
- Eloisa James is the daughter of poet Robert Bly (winner of the American Book Award for Poetry) and short story author Carol Bly.
- Eloisa James’s godfather was the poet James Wright, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his Collected Poems. Among those poems – and one of Wright’s most beloved – is a poem written for his goddaughter, Mary Bly (aka Eloisa James).
Career Highlights
- In 2017, Eloisa was featured on CBS Sunday Morning’s Valentine’s Day segment and in 2014, Eloisa was featured in the NEH-sponsored documentary about romance, Love Between the Covers. The film debuted at the Library of Congress and won several film festival awards.
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In 2013, Eloisa won the RITA Award, romance industry’s top honor, for Seduced by a Pirate.
- In 2012, Eloisa was the first romance writer asked to give a talk at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. She wrote an essay about it for the Washington Post.
- In 2009, Eloisa gave a keynote speech at the annual Romance Writers of America conference and appeared on the keynote panel at the Shakespeare Association of America conference.
- In 2005, Eloisa wrote an op-ed for The New York Times, defending the romance genre against the term “bodice-ripper.”
Recent Press
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Entertainment Weekly
Eloisa is Interviewed by Entertainment Weekly →
Eloisa chats about the shy heroine of Say Yes to the Duke, "wilde" puns, and life in quarantine.
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Fordham News
Shakespeare (and Eloisa) in Quarantine →
Eloisa discusses Shakespeare's life and a great work he likely created while in quarantine from the bubonic plague: King Lear.
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Goodreads
Eloisa talks about her “secret” life as a Shakespeare scholar →
To be, or not to be—for Eloisa James, the real question is, why not be both? With degrees from Harvard, Yale, and Oxford, she finds time to write bestselling historical romance novels while teaching Shakespeare at Fordham University.
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Yale Magazine
Eloisa is Interviewed by her Alma Mater →
Eloisa shares how she met her husband, Alessandro Vettori ’95PhD, at Yale (He’s an Italian knight. For real) and why she started writing romance novels.
Downloadable Photos
Photos by Bryan Derballa
Publicity and Other Contacts
Julie Paulauski
Publicity, Avon Books Publicity