Conversations with William Maxwell / edited by Barbara Burkhardt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maxwell, William, 1908-2000.

Contributor:

Burkhardt, Barbara A.

Series:

Literary conversations series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Maxwell, William, 1908-2000--Interviews.

Maxwell, William.

Maxwell, William, 1908-2000.

Authors, American--20th century--Interviews.

Authors, American.

Editors.

United States.

Editors--United States--Interviews.

Genre:

Interviews.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 241 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

[Jackson] : University Press of Mississippi, [2012]

Summary:

"I didn't want the things that I loved, and remembered, to go down to oblivion. The only way to avoid that is to write about them."

Conversations with William Maxwell collects over thirty interviews, public speeches, and remarks made by the esteemed novelist and New Yorker fiction editor. Spanning five decades, the interviews collectively address the entirely of Maxwell's literary work, with in depth discussion of such work as They Came Like Swallows, The Folded Leaf, and the American Book Award-winning So Long, See You Tomorrow. The interviews also illuminate, at length, Maxwell's forty-year tenure as a fiction editor working with such writers as John Updike, John Cheever, Eudora Welty, Vladimir Nabokov, and J. D. Salinger.

Maxwell's words, some previously unpublished, pay moving tribute to literary friends and mentors and offer reflections on the artistic life, the process of writing, and his midwestern heritage. All retain the reserved poignancy of his fiction. The volume publishes for the first time the full transcript of Maxwell's extensive interviews with his biographer Barbara Burkhardt, who is the editor of this volume. The book's introduction includes Maxwell's discussion of correspondence with Uplike, Saul Bellow, and other luminaries. Book jacket.

Contents:

Handwritten Notes for "The Writer as Illusionist" / William Maxwell 1955 Maxwell, William, 1955 3

An Image of an Image: Maxwell Topic: Autobiographical Novelist / Bob Adams 1963 Adams, Bob, 1963 7

Remarks Delivered at American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1969 Maxwell, William, 1969 9

Tribute to Vladimir Nabokov, Recipient of the Award of Merit, American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1969 Maxwell, William, 1969 10

Introduction of Eudora Welty for Her Reading of "The Demonstrators" at the American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1969 Maxwell, William, 1969 12

Remarks Delivered at American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1970 Maxwell, William, 1970 13

Remarks Delivered at the American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1971 Maxwell, William, 1971 15

Tribute to Zona Gale at the American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1972 Maxwell, William, 1972 17

Remarks on Receiving Honorary Doctorate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign / William Maxwell 1973 Maxwell, William, 1973 21

CA Interviews the Author / Jean W. Ross 1979 Ross, Jean W., 1979 22

PW Interviews William Maxwell / Robert Dahlin 1979 Dahlin, Robert, 1979 26

Remarks on Receiving the William Dean Howells Medal, American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1980 Maxwell, William, 1980 30

Novelist Preserves Youth / Gordon McKerral 1981 McKerral, Gordon, 1981 32

William Maxwell: The Art of Fiction / George Plimpton Plimpton, George, John Seabrook 1981 Seabrook, John, 1981 35

GLR Interview: William Maxwell / Gerald C. Nemanic 1982 Nemanic, Gerald C., 1982 59

Tribute to Robert Fitzgerald at American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1985 Maxwell, William, 1985 76

The Quiet Man / Geoffrey Stokes 1985 Stokes, Geoffrey, 1985 81

Interviews with William Maxwell / Barbara Burkhardt 1991 Burkhardt, Barbara, 1991 89

Imagining the Middle West: An Interview with William Maxwell / Bill Aull Aull, Bill, Sandra Batzli Batzli, Sandra, Barbara Burkhardt Burkhardt, Barbara, James McGowan McGowan, James, Bruce Morgan 1991 Morgan, Bruce, 1991 136

Past Perfect / John Blades 1992 Blades, John, 1992 151

Radio Interview with William Maxwell on KMOX Radio, St. Louis, Missouri / KMOS 1992 , KMOS, 1992 157

An Interview with William Maxwell / David Stanton 1994 Stanton, David, 1994 161

A Modest, Scrupulous, Happy Man / Harvey Ginsberg 1994 Ginsberg, Harvey, 1994 172

Tribute to Francis Steegmuller at the American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1995 Maxwell, William, 1995 178

A Conversation with Author William Maxwell / Linda Wertheimer 1995 Wertheimer, Linda, 1995 181

Remarks on Receiving the Gold Medal for Fiction, American Academy of Arts and Letters / William Maxwell 1995 Maxwell, William, 1995 185

An Interview with William Maxwell / Kay Bonetti 1995 Bonetti, Kay, 1995 186

Edward Hirsch and William Maxwell / Edward Hirsch 1996 Hirsch, Edward, 1996 210

Maxwell's Silver Typewriter / Economist 1999 Economist, 1999 224.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781617032547

1617032549

9781617032554

1617032557

OCLC:

748941709