Daphne Merkin
Events & Workshops
How To Read like A Writer
A Workshop with Daphne Merkin
Class begins on February 18th, 2021
Most of us read without giving it much thought, almost automatically. But the real pleasure of reading comes from paying close scrutiny to how the words on a page are assembled and achieve the effects they do. We will focus on reading between the lines—for nuances and implications, as well as subtext—in which attention will be paid to the author’s prose style and point-of-view as well as to the larger cultural context out of which he or she writes. My hope is that participants will come away from these discussions with a less visceral and more considered response to writerly intention and textual subtlety. We will be reading a mixture of fiction and non-fiction that will be chosen to illuminate different sorts of storytelling
Four Thursday night Zoom sessions beginning on February 18th through March 11th, 2021. For more information: .
About Daphne Merkin:
Daphne Merkin is the author of 22 Minutes of Unconditional Love (FSG, 2020), which the New York Times called "an arresting novel that explores the alchemy of contradictions that exist in all great works of literature.” In 1986, her first novel, Enchantment, won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for best novel on a Jewish theme and has just been reissued by Picador (2020). She has also published two collections of essays, The Fame Lunches (2014) and Dreaming of Hitler (1997), as well as a memoir about her struggle with depression, This Close to Happy (2017). As a former staff writer for The New Yorker, Merkin's cultural criticism frequently appears in The New York Times Book Review and The New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Bookforum, the New York Review of Books, The New Republic, Departures, Elle, Travel + Leisure, Tablet, and many other publications. Merkin has taught writing at the 92nd Street Y, Marymount Manhattan College, Hunter College, and she currently teaches in Columbia University’s MFA program. She lives in New York City.
Daphne Merkin has been interviewed
on the Following Podcasts
Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books with Zibby Owens
Femsplainers: Sexual Obsession, Bad Boys, & Female Lust in the Age of Woke
Gap Year Podcast with Debbie Weil: On Living Through the Pandemic with Depression
Great Podversations: Daphne Merkin and Heather Clark Discuss Sylvia Plath
Upcoming Events
Chevalier's Books Virtual Event
Monday, December 7th
at 7pm (pacific time)
Chevalier's Books Zoom Event Daphne Merkin will be in conversation with author Laura Kipnis. The event is 7pm Pacific tiem. Here's the link to the Zoom event.
McNally Jackson Books Virtual Launch
Thursday, July 16
at 7pm:
McNally Jackson Books Virtual Launch of 22 Minutes of Unconditional Love. Daphne Merkin will be in conversation with Deborah Solomon. RSVP here!
Greenlight Bookstore virtual event
Tuesday, July 21 at 7:30 pm:
Greenlight Bookstore Virtual Event. Daphne Merkin will be in conversation with Meghan Daum. RSVP here!
The Hampton Synagogue
Thursday, July 23 at 7:30pm:
The Hampton Synagogue, 24th Annual Author Discussion Series and nationwide telecast on JBC TV. A live, socially distanced reading and discussion with Daphne Merkin.
154 Sunset Ave, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.
RSVP Required: 631-288-0534, ext 10.
Oblong Books Virtual Event
Wednesday, July 29 at 7:00pm:
Oblong Books & Music Virtual Event: Daphne Merkin will be in conversation with Carol Gilligan.
RJ JULIA BOOKSELLERS Virtual Event
Sunday, August 30 at 5:00pm:
RJ Julia Booksellers Virtual Event: Daphne Merkin will be in conversation with David Shields.
RSVP Here!
Shakespeare & Co. Virtual Event
Tuesday, Sept 1 at 6:30pm:
Shakespeare & Co Virtual Event: Daphne Merkin will be in conversation with Nessa Rapoport about her new novel "Evening".
RSVP Here!