Daniel Mendelsohn is an award-winning author. He received a B.A. in Classics from the University of Virginia and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics from Princeton University. Upon completing his Ph.D. in 1994, Mendelsohn began a career in journalism. In 2005 Mendelsohn was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for a translation of Cavafy's "Unfinished" poems, with commentary. His other honors include the National Book Critics Circle Award for Excellence in Book Reviewing (2000) and the George Jean Nathan Prize for Drama Criticism (2002). Mendelsohn's academic speciality is Greek (especially Euripidean) tragedy.