Edith Wharton: Old and New New York

In celebration of Edith Wharton’s 150th birthday, Hildegard Hoeller (professor of English at the Graduate Center and the College of Staten Island), will discuss Wharton and her changing views of the city she chronicled. Looking at her writing about New York, from the earliest short stories to her 1934 autobiography, this illustrated talk will explore the function of place in Wharton’s writing and highlight how she revised her view of old New York in light of an emerging new New York and her life in France. Hoeller is the author of Edith Wharton’s Dialogue with Realism and Sentimental Fiction, among other works, and the past president of the Edith Wharton Society. The Forum will be introduced by writer Vivian Gornick.