Events
Karen Hao in Conversation with John Borthwick
The author discusses her new book about the technology that is rapidly changing our world.
Lance Richardson on Peter Matthiessen
In conversation with Philip Gourevitch, Lance Richardson discusses his new book True Nature, which depicts Peter Matthiessen’s life.
Steven J. Zipperstein on Philip Roth, with Judith Thurman
Please join the Leon Levy Center for a discussion with Steven J. Zipperstein on the life and work of Philip Roth.
Amanda Vaill on the Schuyler Sisters, with Megan Marshall
Angelica and Elizabeth Schuyler, born to wealth and privilege in New York’s Hudson Valley during the latter half of the eighteenth century, were raised to make good marriages and supervise substantial households. Instead they became embroiled in the turmoil of America's insurrection against Great Britain―and rebelled themselves, in ways as different as each was from the other, against the destiny mapped out for them.
Baldwin: A Love Story – Nicholas Boggs in Conversation with John McWhorter
The author of a new biography of James Baldwin speaks with the New York Times columnist.
Megan Marshall on the Art of Biography, with Martha Hodes
Please join us for this discussion on Biography with Megan Marshall author of "After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart" and Martha Hodes, Professor of History at New York University, and author of "My Hijacking: A Personal History of Forgetting and Remembering."
Carla Kaplan on Jessica Mitford in conversation with Diane McWhorter
Jessica Mitford, fifth of the six famous “Mitford Girls,” was brought up to marry well and reproduce her wealth and privilege, not to advocate for the less advantaged. Her five beautiful sisters have been subjects of books and movies dedicated to their naughty, glamorous lives.
Nathan Kernan on James Schuyler in conversation with Brad Gooch
Nathan Kernan’s A Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler is the definitive biography of the great American poet who, along with Frank O’Hara, Barbara Guest, John Ashbery, and Kenneth Koch, was an original member of the so-called New York School of poetry. Schuyler’s poetry embodies the quiet beauties of the natural world and the mundane stuff of everyday existence, even as his own life was often messy and troubled. In A Day Like Any Other, Kernan explores this and other paradoxes of Schuyler’s singular life within the vibrant milieu of mid-century New York’s poets and painters.
A’lelia Bundles on A’Lelia Walker in conversation with Eric K. Washington
Dubbed the “joy goddess of Harlem’s 1920s” by poet Langston Hughes, A’Lelia Walker, daughter of millionaire entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and the author’s great-grandmother and namesake, is a fascinating figure whose legendary parties and Dark Tower salon helped define the Harlem Renaissance. After inheriting her mother’s hair care enterprise, A’Lelia would become America’s first high profile black heiress and a prominent patron of the arts.
Past events
Leon Levy Biography Lectures
Each year, the Leon Levy Center for Biography selects an eminent biographer to deliver a lecture on the process of researching and writing biography.
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Annual conference
Interested in attending a conference? Check for upcoming conferences.
Past conferences:
2018 | BIO Conference with Biographers International
2017 | Political Icons: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
2016 | Biography Point of View
2014 | Biography in its Time
2013 | Writing Writers’ Lives