Live From Upstate
Part of our Foreword! author series
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A master and champion of personal essays, Phillip Lopate brings us a richly textured portrait of an American legend known for his connection to the Hudson Valley .
Washington Irving (1783–1859) is often considered America’s first professional writer, supporting himself and his family amid the ups and downs of literary fortune. He burst on the scene with his uproarious History of New York, followed by his Sketch Book, a collection of personal essays and short stories that includes “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Lopate identifies with Irving, inspired by his humane and elegant prose style, and by Irving’s courage and persistence in the face of setbacks and his own limitations as a writer. Delving into all that is likable and perplexing about the man once considered America’s most famous writer, A Washington Irving Sketch Book brings Irving closer to today’s readers, capturing the charm of his work and the vicissitudes of literary fashion.
Phillip Lopate is an award-winning nonfiction writer noted for his anthology The Art of the Personal Essay and his essay collections Bachelorhood, Portrait of My Body, Portrait Inside My Head, and A Year and a Day, as well as Notes on Sontag, Waterfront (winner of a 2004 New York City Book Award), and My Affair with Art House Cinema. He is professor emeritus of creative writing at Columbia University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
The LIVE FROM UPSTATE series is generously underwritten by Sven & Barbara Huseby.
Upstate Films programs are made possible by Arts Mid Hudson, Dutchess Tourism, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature