For Kristin Kovacic, one of the most essential parts of being a writer is to make art in a world that is growing more dismal. “We are in a historical moment that feels so dark,”
Writing her novel Great Circle was a six-and-a-half year process for Maggie Shipstead — but she didn’t intend for it to be. “I wrote my other books, their first drafts, in under a year,” said
Given the social, political and economic upheaval of the last few years, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Class wanted of 2022 its banner to be about something different: remembrance. Remembrance of both those who
It begins with a poem: “When I see the first / New moon, faint in the twilight, / I think of the moth eyebrows / Of a girl I saw only once.” That brief poem
Every year for the last five years, the process of selecting another Carnegie Hall National Youth Jazz Orchestra starts again. “We begin, in essence, by getting the word out there to students all over the
Jim Daniels’ new poetry collection, Gun/Shy, looks backward and forward in time, through time, across time. “I ended up juxtaposing poems that looked backward to my childhood with poems about being a parent myself,” said
Of all the teachers David Lazar had over the years, one sticks out: the famous short story writer Raymond Carver. “I remember going up to him after he won the MacArthur — and Ray Carver
According to Michael Li, there’s a battle being waged in the United States, and it’s happening all around us: redistricting. “We completed the latest round of redistricting after the 2020 census,” said Li, senior counsel
Who gets to participate in democracy? What does it take, not just to vote, but to be able to use your voice in various ways — to be a fully equal citizen? “One of the
Each United States Poet Laureate picks a project that they work on for the duration of their tenure. When it came time for Robert Pinsky to be the poet laureate in 1997, he knew what
Trevor Potter began his lecture with a simple quote from Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, asked by a woman outside Independence Hall what the Constitutional Convention had produced, famously said: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
The title for Nicole Cooley’s Poetry Brown Bag lecture really says it all: “Why I Don’t Believe in Inspiration: And Why I Study Trash, Love Miniature Chairs and Collect Other People’s Postcards.” “In many ways,
When it comes to speaking at Chautauqua, this isn’t Trevor Potter’s first rodeo — and there’s always been a common theme to his lectures. In 2016, Potter delivered the July 4 oration at Chautauqua, titled
Historically, Chautauqua’s School of Music has never featured its students playing chamber music in the Amphitheater. Until now. “(The Amp) has always been reserved for big concerts, meaning big ensembles, orchestra, opera,” said Kathryn Votapek,
The essay, both creatively and theoretically, is at the heart of David Lazar’s work. “It’s also the focus of a lot of my teaching,” said Lazar, an essayist and the Week Five Chautauqua Writers’ Center
For an author like Vi Khi Nao, having a collaborator on a writing project can be a huge creative boost. “In my Brown Bag lecture, I’ll walk through my different types of collaborative efforts that