Michael Levy was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 5, 1950. He received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Illinois in 1972, a master's degree in English from Ohio State University in 1974, and a PhD in English from the University of Minnesota in 1982. He began teaching literature at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1980 and remained there his entire academic career. His focus was on science fiction and fantasy.
He wrote reviews for Publishers Weekly and The New York Review of Science Fiction. He was also an editor for the journal Extrapolation. He was the author or co-author of Natalie Babbit, Portrayal of South East Asian Refugees in Recent American Children's Books, and Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction. He died from cancer on April 3, 2017 at the age of 66.
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