A dinner and reading by author Colum McCann was the culminating event for students in this semester’s Program in New York City. The event was part of the Eat, Drink & Be Literary series sponsored by the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The Hamilton students’ attendance was underwritten by Arthur Levitt P’81, HD ’81, Brooklyn native and BAM enthusiast, and Bill Lynch ’82, vice president for development at BAM.
Colum McCann is The New York Times bestselling author of Let the Great World Spin, which won the 2009 National Book Award. Patricia O’Neill, the Edmund A. LeFevre Professor of English, who directed this semester’s New York program, said her students “had read Let the Great World Spin in our class on representations of NYC post 9/11 and discussed it. So we could follow his reading and the questions posed by The New Yorker editor to McCann. One of my students also asked a very intelligent question during the Q&A,” she added. Colum McCann’s wife is Hamilton alumna Allison Hawke ’89. She was a French major at Hamilton and now teaches ESL in the city.
A unique series for sophisticated writers, readers, and eaters, Eat, Drink & Be Literary brings major contemporary authors to BAMcafé for intimate dinners, entertaining readings, and engaging discussions. Each evening begins with a sumptuous buffet prepared by BAMcafé’s acclaimed executive chef, Tim Sullivan, served with select wines and accompanied by live music. Following dinner, authors read from and are interviewed about their work, take questions from the audience, and sign books to conclude an evening of candid glimpses into the creative process and the rich writings it yields.
Eat, Drink & Be Literary is presented in partnership with the National Book Awards, whose mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.
