Robert Spoo

Robert Spoo is the Leonard L. Milberg ’53 Professor in Irish Letters and Professor of English at Princeton University. Previously, he held the Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law and English at the University of Tulsa. He earned his BA (Lawrence University), MA and PhD (Princeton University, with a Whiting Fellowship), and JD (Yale Law School). His work bridges literature, law, and intellectual property, focusing on modern Irish writers (James Joyce, Oscar Wilde), modernist studies, and legal frameworks affecting authorship. He co-authored landmark legal cases defending scholars against Joyce Estate copyright claims. His books include James Joyce and the Language of History (1994), Without Copyrights: Piracy, Publishing, and the Public Domain (2013), and Modernism and the Law (2018). He has edited key works by Joyce, Pound, and H.D., and co-founded the open-access James Joyce’s Correspondence project. Current projects include Ownerless Possessions: Modernism and its Public Domains and Courtesy in American Publishing.

Spoo’s research explores how copyright, piracy, and legal norms shaped modernist literature. He has held prestigious fellowships (Guggenheim, LAPA) and teaching awards. His interdisciplinary work appears in journals like Yale Law Journal and Law & Literature. He advises on intellectual property issues for artists and scholars, merging academic rigor with practical legal advocacy.

His awards include the Guggenheim Fellowship (2016–17), LAPA Fellowship (2020–21), and multiple teaching accolades. He collaborates internationally on projects like the Concise Encyclopedia of Law and Literature. His legal-pedagogical background (judicial clerkship under Sonia Sotomayor) informs his analysis of law’s intersection with creative expression.