Erik Eklund (1991–) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham and Graduate Fellow with the Northwestern University Research Initiative for the Study of Russian Philosophy and Religious Thought (NU RPRT Research Initiative). His doctoral thesis, A Triptych of Bottomless Light: Repetition, Originality and Transcendence in Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, charts the theological contours of the dialectic of repetition and identity in Nabokov's masterpiece. His earlier work on eschatology and theurgy in Lolita, in conversation with the thought of Nicolas Berdyaev, earned him the inaugural Dieter E. Zimmer Prize for Best Postgraduate Work. In addition to authoring several peer-reviewed articles and other essays on Nabokov, Erik has also published on the medieval sources of C.S. Lewis’ eschatology and is a contributor to the forthcoming edited volume New Trinitarian Ontologies. Erik also holds a dual appointment in the Department of English and College of Ministry at Northwest University.

Refereed Publications on Nabokov:

“The Mirror and the Icon: An Alternative Reading of Nabokov’s Pale Fire.” Partial Answers 22, no. 1 (Jan. 2024). Forthcoming.

"Haloed Hallucinations: Vladimir Nabokov’s Bend Sinister and the Cult of St. Antony from Athanasius to Gustave Flaubert." Religion and the Arts 27 (2023). Forthcoming.

"Rereading the World: A Theological Appraisal of Vladimir Nabokov’s Metaliterary Eschatology." Religion & Literature 55 (2023). Forthcoming.

Organizer and participant. “Nabokov and Religion.” Roundtable discussion with Christopher A. Link, Mary Ross, Matthew Roth, and Michael Wood. Nabokov Online Journal 16. Forthcoming.

“‘The Name of God has priority’: ‘God’ and the Apophatic Element in Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire.” Literature and Theology 36, no. 3 (Sept. 2022): 298–315.

“Do Not Be Angry at the Moon: Pale Fire and The Old English Boethius.” The Nabokovian 83 (Fall 2022): 1–13.

“The Gist of Masks: Notes on Kinbote’s Christianity and Nabokov’s Authorial Kenosis.” Nabokov Online Journal 15 (2021): 1–29.

“‘A green lane in Paradise’: Eschatology and Theurgy in Lolita.” Nabokov Studies 17 (2020–21): 35–60.

Book Chapters related to Nabokov:

“Crystal to Crystal.” In New Trinitarian Ontologies: Conference Proceedings of the New Trinitarian Ontologies Conference and Symposium, edited by John Milbank, Ryan Haecker, and Jonathan Lyonhart. (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2023). Forthcoming.

Book Reviews:

Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Acts by Dana Dragunoiu (Northwestern University Press, 2021). Nabokov Studies. Forthcoming.

Nabokov and the Real World: Between Appreciation and Defense by Robert Alter (Princeton University Press, 2021). Nabokov Online Journal 15 (2021): 1–4.