Harold Guy Merriam (September 6, 1883 – March 26, 1980) was an American literary critic and professor of literature.

A Rhodes Scholar, he was a founder and editor of literary magazines and an anthropologist of regional writing.

He graduated from Denver (Colorado) High School in June 1902, and entered the University of Wyoming where he majored in science and the classics.

[1] He attended Lincoln College, Oxford University, where he was enrolled in the honors school in English language and literature.

Merriam left Harvard, where he studied drama, after the fall term to teach at Beloit College in Wisconsin, where he remained until 1913.

[4] During World War I, Merriam took a leave of absence from his teaching career and went with YMCA to France, where he taught English to French officers.

After the Armistice he was transferred to London, where he assisted American officers and enlisted men in entering British universities.

This well-respected regional literary magazine encouraged students and writers not only from Montana, but from throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Merriam became very active in the program; with his encouragement, sixteen University of Montana students went to Oxford between 1919 and 1970.