Jochem Riesthuis received his PhD in Comperative Literature from the University of Chicago, where he worked with Prof Kenneth Warren and Prof Jacky Goldsby. His research focusses on the representation of identity, specifically racial identity, in 20th and 21st century American and Carribbean literature, the position of African American Literature in the American Canon, American political literature and the City in American writing. He has been affiliated with the English Department at the University of Amsterdam, and the North American Studies Program at the Radboud University. He is currently a lecturer on the programme BA English Language and Culture.  He has been invited to give talks on racial passing, modernism in African American literature and Chicago. His work has appeared in several collections.