Free Public Events at The OA's Literary Summit!
William Whitworth, Pico Iyer, & David Remnick visit Winthrop Rockefeller Institute in Arkansas in June of 2011. This interview series, part of The Oxford American Summit for Ambitious Writers at Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, presents leading editors and writers in conversation with Oxford American editor Marc Smirnoff. These interviews are open to the public at no cost, but registration is required. For more information, please visit summit.oxfordamerican.org.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011 AT 4:00 PM
William Whitworth began his career as a reporter for the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock, then moved to the New York Herald Tribune (where he worked alongside Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and Charles Portis). Hired by The New Yorker as a staff writer, Mr. Whitworth became an editor who worked on many of the magazine's most important nonfiction articles. In 1980, he became chief editor of one of the country's most prestigious magazines, The Atlantic Monthly, a position he held for twenty years. Of Mr. Whitworth, Charles Portis says, "He's an excellent editor; he knows his stuff." We have been trying for many years to get Mr. Whitworth to speak about his amazing literary career, and we are very pleased that he finally said yes.
THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011 AT 4:00 PM
Pico Iyer is the author of seven nonfiction works, including The Lady and the Monk and Video Night in Kathmandu, both considered travel-writing classics. Utne Reader praises Mr. Iyer for "elevating travel reportage to new heights." His most recent book is The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. His sparkling essay on Marshall McLuhan just appeared in The New York Review of Books. We are longtime fans of Mr. Iyer's clear prose and adventurous thinking. But he is also a brilliant speaker and we are thrilled to have him on the mountain to discuss the art and craft of writing.
FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011 AT 2:00 PM
Looked at dispassionately, The New Yorker is a weekly miracle. That a magazine committed to the very highest ethical and literary standards should also be a smash success (one million-plus readers!) simply does not compute. From the get-go, the magazine has attracted the best editors in the world. The mug of Harold Ross, the magazine's founder, and its chief editor from 1925 to 1951, should be emblazoned on Mount Rushmore. Then there was the immensely capable and sensitive William Shawn (1952–1987). And the careful and underrated Robert Gottlieb (1987–1992). And the electrifying and brilliant Tina Brown (1992–1998). Since 1998, of course, the multidimensional and hyper-intelligent David Remnick has been at the helm. Besides making a great magazine even greater, Mr. Remnick is also an excellent writer and reporter himself.
