CHF Chicago Humanities Festival

Buy Tickets

CHF Blogs

SIGN IN |

SIGN IN

E-MAIL ADDRESS (e.g. amandasmith@gmail.com) PASSWORD Forgot your password?

NOT YET REGISTERED?
Register free with CHF.
REGISTER
ITINERARY (0)
SEARCH

ARTS & ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY
LITERATURE
PHILOSOPHY
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
GET OUR EMAIL UPDATES

Sign up for our email updates to get the latest from CHF.
Hear first about tickets, find out about our latest videos, and
get our blogs delivered right to your inbox.
Your browser does not support iframes. No thanks

Panel

E-Mail

YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS (e.g. amandasmith@gmail.com) YOUR NAME RECIPIENT E-MAIL ADDRESS
(Please separate multiple email addresses with commas.)
MESSAGE I thought this page from the Chicago Humanities Festival might interest you.
(You may use or edit the message above.)
PRINT
Share
TEXT SIZE
- A
- A
- A

Launch Media

ABOUT Charles Baxter

Charles Baxter's novels include The Soul Thief, Saul and Patsy, The Feast of Love, Shadow Play, and First Light. His stories and novellas are collected in Believers, A Relative Stranger, Gryphon, Through the Safety Net, and Harmony of the Wood; his essays on fiction in The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot and Burning Down the Housel; and his poetry in Imaginary Paintings, The South Dakota Guidebook, and Chameleon. Baxter has edited A William Maxwell Portrait: Memories and Appreciations as well as other books.
Profile
ABOUT Barbara Burkhardt

Barbara Burkhardt teaches English at the University of Illinois at Springfield. She earned her doctorate in American literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, alma mater of the writer William Maxwell. She wroteWilliam Maxwell: A Literary Life based on extensive interviews with Maxwell. She wrote the catalogue From the Illinois Prairie to The New Yorker: The Life and Work of William Maxwell for an exhibit honoring Maxwell and his donation of his papers to the University of Illinois library.
Profile
ABOUT Edward Hirsch

Edward Hirsch's poetry collections include For the Sleepwalkers, Wild Gratitude, The Night Parade, Earthly Measures, On Love, Lay Back the Darkness, and Special Orders. Among his prose are How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry, Responsive Reading, The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration, and Poet's Choice. He is the co-editor of A William Maxwell Portrait: Memories and Appreciations.
Profile

Click next to learn more...

1 of 1

Click play to listen. Recorded on November 5, 2005.

Three readers consider the life and influence of the Illinois-born author and legendary New Yorker editor William Maxwell (1908-2000). Biographer Barbara Burkhardt, who spent ten years interviewing Maxwell, leads this conversation with fiction writer Charles Baxter and poet Edward Hirsch.

Tags

William Maxwell, The New Yorker, fiction

Learn More

leaders & thinkers

William Maxwell (1908-2000) Writer

Frank O'Connor (1903-1966)Writer

Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978)Writer
related events

Lit & Lectures in ChicagoCompiled by the Chicago Reader

Literary Events in Los AngelesCompiled by the LA Weekly

Literary Events in New YorkCompiled by the Village Voice
good reads

A William Maxwell Portrait (2004)Edited and introduced by Charles Baxter, Michael Collier, and Edward Hirsch (Google Books Preview)

William Maxwell: A Literary Life (2005)By Barbara Burkhardt (Google Books Preview)

"The Imperishable Maxwell" (09/08/2008)John Updike on the writer's reissued work
online resources

Audio: William Maxwell on National Public Radio Stories dating from 1995

Video: William Maxwell: Celebration of His Work and Life

Similar Programs

Lecture

Jayne Anne Phillips and Nick Reding accept the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for their books Lark and Termite and Methland.

Panel

Five professors, writers, and readers revisit the notion of "the great American novel" in this roundtable discussion. They debate the meaning of the novel and American authors’ willingness to pursue it.