Katharine Washburn
Katharine Washburn (Katharine Winegarden) was born in 1943. Katharine passed away March 22nd, 2000 at 57 years old. Katharine Washburn was born in Rochester, NY, USA. Washburn attended Columbia University where she received a Master of Arts degree and a Ph.D in classic Greek. She also graduated from Pembroke-Brown University.
Katharine Washburn was a gifted anthologist, editor, and translator who spent her career bringing big, complicated bodies of literature to everyday readers. She had a rare talent for taking huge subjects - world poetry, cultural criticism, centuries of sermons - and shaping them into books that felt welcoming instead of overwhelming. Her work showed a deep belief that great writing belongs to everyone, not just scholars.
Her most famous project was
World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse From Antiquity to Our Time, created with John S. Major. It’s an enormous collection, more than 1,600 poems from over 4,000 years of human history, drawn from dozens of languages and cultures. Washburn helped organize this mountain of material into a clear, readable journey through world literature. She also contributed her own translations, adding to the book’s sense of global reach and shared heritage.
Washburn’s editorial work stretched far beyond poetry. With John F. Thornton, she co-edited
Dumbing Down: Essays on the Strip-Mining of American Culture, a collection of sharp, thoughtful pieces by writers like Cynthia Ozick, Francine Prose, and Sven Birkerts. The book explored what happens when a culture stops valuing depth, nuance, and serious thinking - a topic Washburn approached with both concern and curiosity.
She and Thornton also created
Tongues of Angels, Tongues of Men: A Book of Sermons, a sweeping anthology of nearly two thousand years of preaching. It includes voices from across the Judeo-Christian tradition, from early church fathers to modern moral leaders. Washburn helped shape the book into something more than a historical document; it became a living conversation about faith, ethics, and the human condition. She later worked with Thornton again on
The Times Greatest Sermons of the Last 2000 Years, continuing her interest in how spiritual writing reflects and shapes history.
Alongside her anthologies, Washburn translated poetry - including a well-regarded 1986 translation of Paul Celan’s late work - and edited collections of Romantic-era poets such as Byron, Shelley, and Keats. Her background in classical Greek, along with her years on the editorial staff of the Book-of-the-Month Club, gave her both scholarly depth and a strong sense of what general readers respond to.
Across all her projects, Katharine Washburn stood out for her ability to make vast, complex traditions feel accessible and alive. Her anthologies remain lasting contributions - books that open doors, spark curiosity, and remind readers of the richness of the world’s literary and spiritual voices.
Related Authors
Fans of Katharine Washburn also enjoy these authors:
- J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
- Charles Dickens, author of the novel: A Christmas Carol.
- Daniel Silva, author of the Gabriel Allon Series.
- Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher Series.
- Robin Hobb, author of the Farseer Series.