Novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz To Visit Tredyffrin Libraries

Press release from the Chester County Library System:

Sept. 7, 2022

Tredyffrin Township Libraries will host New York Times best-selling author Jean Hanff Korelitz as author-in-residence for a series of events September 27–30. Korelitz is the author of eight novels, including The Latecomer and The Plot (both in development for limited series), You Should Have Known (adapted as HBO’s 2020 limited series, The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant) and Admission (the basis for the 2013 film starring Tina Fey).

The movie adaptations of Korelitz’s work will be introduced by a screening of The Undoing (episodes 1 & 2) on Tuesday, September 27 at 7:00 and a screening of Admission on Wednesday, September 28 at 7:00, both in the King Room at Tredyffrin Public Library.

Plot Development

On Thursday, September 29 at 7:00 at Tredyffrin Public Library, the author will present Plot Development, a discussion of how her ideas about plot developed over the years as she wrote You Should Have Known, The Plot, and The Latecomer. Her novel The Plot raises questions about appropriation and who has the right to tell someone else’s story. “To plagiarise language is to be boiled in oil as far as I’m concerned,” Korelitz says. “But there’s a murkier thing when it comes to the story” (The Guardian, July 23, 2021).

She will also share her observations on the movie adaptations of her work. Korelitz told the Forward in July 2021 that because she never expected to see every detail of her novel translated faithfully to the screen, she’s been able to enjoy watching them as linked but distinct projects. “There’s nothing like the thrill of walking onto a set and seeing hundreds of people running around doing work you don’t understand,” she said. “It’s a very powerful feeling to know that something you created instigated this.”

Conversations with the Author

On Thursday, September 29 at 1:30 at Paoli Library, Korelitz will meet with a small group of creative people who are engaged in writing--or are interested in trying--for a conversation about writing. The session will focus on some of the challenges people deal with as writers. When it comes to the writing process, Korelitz points to Anna Quindlen’s observation in Write For Your Life that the only part of a writing routine that matters is the part where the words get onto the page. Registration is limited to 15.

On Friday, September 30 at 2:30, book lovers have a unique opportunity to meet the author in a relaxed setting, limited in size so that real conversation can take place, in a Pop-Up Book Group discussion of The Plot. This event will be held at a historic private home in Strafford, with a limited number of tickets available for in-person participation. The $25 registration fee includes a signed copy of The Plot. The event can also be viewed on Zoom at no charge (advance registration required).

The residency will be capped off by an author talk and book signing on Friday, September 30 at 7:00. See the library event calendar (https://www.tredyffrinlibraries.org/virtual-calendar/) for additional information on ticketing and registration for all events.

Remixes

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s residency is part of the libraries’ Remixed Classics series (https://www.tredyffrinlibraries.org/programs-events/remixed-classics/ ), which considers the importance of continuing or retelling classic stories and explores how plots are adapted to different settings, times, and media. Such adaptation is a common thread through many of Korelitz’s books. Her novel The Sabbathday River transplanted elements of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter to a small community in New Hampshire. Her third novel, The White Rose, transposed the plot and characters of the Richard Strauss opera Der Rosenkavalier to 1990s New York City.

In a November 26, 2020 interview with Sarah Silverman, Korelitz observed, “You think about all the stories that have traveled from one art form to another, losing things along the way, gaining things along the way, and all of the pleasure that we’ve taken from them…Hamlet becomes The Lion King …To take part in that magical ride… [is] one of the great joys of my life, to follow stories from one place to another.”

The Remixed Classics series seeks to build connections, make space for new voices, create empathy and belonging, and support vibrant communities. Funding for Remixed Classics has been provided by PA Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and by the Friends of Tredyffrin Public Library.

This press release was produced by the Chester County Library System. The views expressed here are the author's own.