Neil Baldwin, executive director of the National Book Foundation, will discuss his work on his current book, Henry Ford and the Jews, scheduled for publication next year, at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Welles-Brown Room in Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester River Campus.
Baldwin's lecture on the experiences of being a writer begins the series, "Fall Readings by Old Friends: Rochester Writers and the Writing Life," a special offering of the 39th season of the Hyam Plutzik Memorial Poetry Series and the Donald R. Clark Enrichment Program in the Humanities. Baldwin is the son-in-law of the late Hyam Plutzik, who was Deane Professor of Poetry and Rhetoric at the University.
Baldwin received his bachelor's degree in English from the University and his doctorate in modern American poetry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He edited and published The Niagara Magazine, a journal of contemporary poetry, from 1974 to 1982, and also taught literature and creative writing at many colleges and universities. Baldwin has been the executive director of the National Book Foundation since 1989.
Baldwin is also the author of several volumes of poetry, three textbooks, and three biographies: To All Gentleness: William Carlos Williams, The Doctor-Poet; Man Ray: American Artist; and Edison: Inventing the Century, which was named one of the best books of 1995 by Business Week magazine. Baldwin's screenplay for a documentary on Man Ray received a Gold "Hugo" Award at the Chicago Film Festival.
For more information on "Fall Readings by Old Friends: Rochester Writers and the Writing Life," contact the Department of English at (585) 275-4092.