Pulitzer Prize-winning Greek American novelist Jeffrey Eugenides (The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex, The Marriage Plot) will speak at the National Hellenic Museum (NHM) in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood on Thursday, December 5 from 7-8:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Limited free tickets are available on a first come, first served basis on Eventbrite HERE.
In this special event, co-hosted by NHM and the Consulate General of Greece in Chicago, Jeffrey Eugenides will be in conversation with Chicago Tribune features writer Christopher Borrelli.
This is a unique opportunity for Chicago audiences to hear from one of America's most celebrated authors. Jeffrey Eugenides will speak about how his Greek American identity has shaped his storytelling, from his acclaimed novels to his reflections on culture and creativity. Eugenides’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Middlesex is perhaps the most well-known contemporary Greek American novel, telling the story of three generations of the Greek American Stephanides family, who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Detroit, witnessing both the city’s glory days and racial conflicts.
This event is generously sponsored by Greektown Special Service Area #16, Avli Restaurant, and Mr. Stavros Basseas.
The National Hellenic Museum (333 S. Halsted Street, Chicago) presents a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides in partnership with the Consulate General of Greece in Chicago on Thursday, December 5 from 7-8:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Museum admission is free for this special event and limited tickets are available HERE. For more information on current exhibitions, events and museum memberships, visit nationalhellenicmuseum.org or call 312-655-1234.
Jeffrey Eugenides is the author of three novels. His first, The Virgin Suicides, published in 1993, is now considered a modern classic. (The novel was also made into a film by Sofia Coppola.) Middlesex published in 2002, going on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the WELT-Literatur Preis, and the Santiago de Compostela Literary Prize from Spain. Middlesex was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and France's Prix Médicis. In 2011, Eugenides published The Marriage Plot, which became a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award and was named as the best novel of that year by independent booksellers in the United States. The Marriage Plot also won the Prix Fitzgerald and the Madame Figaro Literary Prize in France. Fresh Complaint, a collection of short stories, was published in 2017. Eugenides is the Lewis and Loretta Glucksman Professor in American Letters at New York University. His work has been translated into over 35 languages. He is a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and The American Academy of Sciences and Letters.
The National Hellenic Museum (NHM) has a mission to share Greek history, art, culture and the Greek American story. NHM preserves the Hellenic legacy and makes this rich heritage relevant today through its extensive collection of more than 10,000 physical artifacts, hundreds of oral histories, exhibitions, educational programs and special events. Originally founded in 1983 and located in Chicago’s historic Greektown neighborhood since 2011, NHM provides lifelong learning for the community and sparks inquiry and discussion about the broader issues in our lives and society. Regular Museum hours are Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, visit nationalhellenicmuseum.org or call 312-655-1234.