Biography

John Hay is an English professor at UNLV who specializes in 19th-century American literature, and has published extensively on the theme of apocalypse in the works of many different authors.

Hay’s first book, Postapocalyptic Fantasies in Antebellum American Literature (2017), examines how U.S. writers imagined the new nation’s explosive potential. He is the editor of Apocalypse in American Literature and Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2020), and his essays and articles have appeared in various academic publications. He has also authored book reviews for popular outlets including The Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, and Desert Companion.

In addition to his doomsday work, Hay has written scholarship about figures including Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Harriet Jacobs, and Bob Dylan. He joined UNLV in 2013, and teaches courses on topics including the early American novel, nonfiction prose, American Enlightenment, and 19th-century frontier travel narratives.