Daniel Pollack-Pelzner
Author of
Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
Daniel is a visiting scholar at Portland State University, the scholar-in-residence at the Portland Shakespeare Project, and a frequent guest lecturer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In 2016, he received the Graves Award from the American Council of Learned Societies for outstanding teaching in the humanities.
His articles on Shakespeare and contemporary culture—from Shakespeare’s language, novel adaptations, and the history of history plays to Lorraine Hansberry, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Mary Kathryn Nagle—have appeared recently in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. His pandemic spoof, "What Shakespeare Actually Did During the Plague," was made into a short film by PBS.
His current projects include consulting on a documentary film about tribal sovereignty in law and theater, designing a public humanities center in Portland, planning a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, and a book for Simon & Schuster about the education of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
He received my B.A. in History from Yale and my Ph.D. in English from Harvard, where he helped to edit the Norton Shakespeare. His met his wife met in a fifth-grade production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. They live with their two children and a puppy in Portland, Oregon.
DanielPollackPelzner.com / Represented by Anne Edelstein
Books by Daniel
Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
An intimate and captivating exploration of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s artistic journey, revealing how the creator of the Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights found his unique voice through bold collaborations and a seamless blend of cultures, redefining the world of musical theater.
How did Lin-Manuel Miranda, the sweet, sensitive son of Puerto Rican parents from an immigrant neighborhood in Manhattan, rise to become the preeminent musical storyteller of the 21st century? Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist offers a compelling narrative that traces Miranda’s path from a friendly but often isolated child to the winner of multiple Tonys and Grammys for his Broadway hits Hamilton and In the Heights, a global chart-topping sensation for his songs in Disney’s Moana and Encanto, and the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Genius Grant.
Miranda’s journey is a testament to the power of creativity, collaboration, and cultural synthesis. Despite not being a musical prodigy, Miranda’s insatiable drive to create art and learn from those around him propelled him to synthesize his Latino heritage with the pop, hip-hop, and Broadway musical styles of New York City. The unique blend allowed him to craft a new way of telling American stories.
Drawing on over 150 interviews with Miranda’s family, friends, and mentors, including insights from Miranda himself, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner delves into the formative experiences that shaped Miranda’s artistic vision. From his early musicals in high school and college to the creation of his professional masterpieces, this book reveals the sources of Miranda’s creativity—not only as innate genius, but also as a result of exceptional openness and collaboration. With full access to Miranda’s inner circle, this behind-the-scenes origin story is sure to captivate his legions of fans and beyond.