The Jewish Literary Exchange
Martha Cooley
Dr. Margot Krebs speaks with American author Martha Cooley about her novel The Archivist (1998). This event is the final part of the 2003 Jewish Literary Exchange discussion series. The Archivist is the fictional story of a librarian tasked with preserving a collection of correspondence between poet T.S. Eliot and his paramour, Emily Hale. The letters must remain legally sealed until 2020, fifty years after Hale’s death. The story’s collection is based on Emily Hale’s real-life donation to Princeton University in 1956. In this discussion, Cooley argues that her book is not strictly about the Eliot-Hale letters, and instead uses them as a backdrop for a study of character, relationships, and a “quest for spiritual meaning.” The discussion is followed by questions from the audience.
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