In a series of conversations that bring guest artists to campus to discuss what they face in making art in the modern world, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, director of the Princeton Atelier, moderates a discussion with Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of eighteen books (She’s Not There, Stuck In the Middle With You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders), a human rights advocate, and the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence and Professor of English at Barnard College; Meredith Monk, a composer, singer, director, choreographer, and creator of new opera, music-theater works, films and installations (Ellis Island, Dolmen Music, Atlas, Indra’s Net); and Maria Stepanova, a Russian poet, novelist, essayist, and journalist (In Memory of Memory) with poet and translator Sasha Dugdale.
This year’s series is cosponsored by Labyrinth Books, and recent books by some of the guests will be available for purchase at the event.
Admission & Details
This event is free and open to the public; no tickets or advance registration required.
Directions
Get directions to Richardson Auditorium, located in Alexander Hall on the Princeton University campus.
Accessibility
Richardson Auditorium is an accessible venue with assistive listening devices available. A house wheelchair (for transfer only) is available upon request; inquire with staff at the door. Guests in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week in advance of the event date.
About the Artists
Jennifer Finney Boylan
Jennifer Finney Boylan. Photo Credit: Dan Haar
Jennifer Finney Boylan is the author of eighteen books including the critically acclaimed memoir She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (2003), one of the first bestselling works by a transgender American. With Jodi Picoult, she recently coauthored the New York Times bestseller Mad Honey (2022). Boylan is currently working on Falcon Quinn and the Bullies of Greenblud, an anti-bullying young adult project, and an anthology of women writing about home entitled This is the Place. Known as a novelist, memoirist, and short story writer, she is also an advocate for civil rights. From 2013-2017 Boylan served as co-chair of the Board of Directors of GLAAD, the media advocacy group for LGBT people worldwide. After serving as Vice President of the PEN America Board of Trustees, she was elected as President of PEN America in late 2023. Boylan has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Live with Larry King, The Today Show, the Barbara Walters Special, NPR’s Marketplace and Talk of the Nation. She has also been the subject of documentaries on CBS News’ 48 Hours and The History Channel, and she served as an advisor to the television series Transparent. Currently the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University, Boylan is also a member of the faculty of the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference of Middlebury College and the Sirenland Writers’ Conference in Positano, Italy.
Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk. Photo by F Scott Schafer
Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director, choreographer, filmmaker, and creator of new opera, music-theater works, films and installations. Recognized as one of the most unique and influential artists of our time, she is a pioneer in what is now called extended vocal technique and interdisciplinary performance. Celebrated internationally, her work has been presented at major venues around the world. Over the last six decades, Ms. Monk has been hailed as one of National Public Radio’s 50 Great Voices and “one of America’s coolest composers.” Her numerous awards and honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters from the Republic of France, induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and a National Medal of Arts. In 2022 she was celebrated with a 13-disc box set issued by ECM Records, Meredith Monk: The Recordings, which includes the 2008 GRAMMY-nominated “impermanence.” Her music has also been featured in films by Terrence Malick, Jean-Luc Godard, David Byrne, and the Coen Brothers. In addition to numerous vocal pieces, music-theater works and operas, Monk has created vital new repertoire for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. Selected scores of her work are available through Boosey & Hawkes. Currently Monk is celebrating her 60th Season of creating and performing with a series of concerts, residencies and special events centered in New York, including the North American premiere of Indra’s Net, her third work in a trilogy exploring our interdependent relationship with nature.
Maria Stepanova
Photo by Andrei Natotsinsky
Maria Stepanova is a poet, essayist, and editor. Born in 1972, she graduated from Moscow Institute of Literature in 1995. She is the author of fourteen poetry collections and three books of essays, and a recipient of several Russian and international literary awards. Her poems have been translated into a number of languages, including English, German, French, Italian and Swedish. Stepanova’s opinion pieces on the current political and media landscape in Russia have been published in major European publications. Her documentary novel Pamiati pamiati (In Memory of Memory) received the Russian Big Book Prize in December 2018 and NOS prize in February 2019. The book was translated into 27 languages, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and Prix Médicis and awarded with the French Prix de Meilleur Livre Etranger. In 2023, Stepanova has received the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding for her poetry book Mädchen ohne Kleider. From 2007 through 2012, Stepanova was the founder and editor-in-chief of OpenSpace.ru, an independent online daily devoted to contemporary culture and society. Along with the former OpenSpace team in 2012, she launched a new online resource, COLTA.RU, the Russian daily publication covering cultural issues and their political implications. The website was blocked by the Russian state in early March 2022, together with the other Russian independent publications.
