Derrick R. Spires

Derrick R. Spires is Associate Professor of English and affiliate faculty in American Studies, Visual Studies, and Media Studies at Cornell University. His research focuses on early African American and American print culture, citizenship studies, and African American intellectual history.

He received recognition for his book The Practice of Citizenship: Black Politics and Print Culture in the Early United States (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), including:

• 2020 Bibliographical Society/St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize
• 2019 M/MLA Book Prize

His work has been published in journals such as African American Review and American Literary History, with contributions to edited collections on topics like the Colored Conventions movement and early African American print culture.