The lecture “Domestic Biographies: Stowe, Howells, James, and Wharton at Home,” based on the recently published book with the same title, studies four key American Realist writers, and explores the overlap between the authors' "real" lives and their literary realism. Elif Armbruster will take the audience behind the scenes and into the private spaces of each of the authors' most important residences, showcasing why the authors loved or hated the properties; what prompted their moves; how and where they wrote from the home; and what came of the pursuit of their "dream houses.” The book Domestic Biographies offers an innovative and exciting architectural and domestic lens through which to study the lives and literature of America’s best-known Realists. Copies of the book will be available for purchase after the lecture.
Elif Armbruster is an Assistant Professor of English at Suffolk University, where she teaches courses in American Literature, Women's Studies, and American Studies, as well as Special Seminars on the meaning of home in America and the evolution of the American Dream. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies in 2005 from Boston University, and joined the full-time faculty of Suffolk's English Department in the fall 2006, where she is currently on the tenure track. Prior to attending graduate school, she was a writer and editor in New York City for Money and Worth magazines.
