Vivian Gornick

Working as a journalist at New York subculture bible Village Voice in the 1970s, Vivian Gornick honed her skills as an essayist and made her name as a feminist polemicist. But it was a groundbreaking, book-length work of literary memoir, Fierce Attachments, that cemented her reputation as a giant of personal narrative writing. The book, published in 1987, isan extreme close-up account of her own relationship with her mother. 

In the years since the publication of that classic literary memoir, Gornick has continued to explore the possibilities of personal narrative and non-fiction through biography, literary criticism and essays. In her latest book, The Odd Woman and the City, she traverses the streets of New York City, reflecting – with her usual humour and unflinching lucidity – on friendship, literature, family and the single life.

A living legend of narrative non-fiction, Gornick discusses her intertwined life and work with host Jordy Silverstein.