(1906-1994)
Cleanth Brooks was an influential literary critic and professor who is best known for his contributions to New Criticism in the mid-twentieth century and for revolutionizing the teaching of poetry in American higher education.  His best-known works include The Well Wrought Urn (1947) and Modern Poetry and the Tradition (1939).  Brooks was also the preeminent critic on Southern literature, writing classic texts on William Faulkner, and co-editor of the influential journal, The Southern Review.