R279. The Politician as Writer: The Rise of the Political Autobiography

Liberty Salon N, O, & P, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Four
Thursday, February 9, 2017
4:30 pm to 5:45 pm

 

Cash donations, an advising team, focus groups—and a book? Barack Obama’s 2004 book, Dreams From My Father, started the recent trend of politicians who first hint at a national campaign by releasing an autobiography. Join the discussion as a literary agent, a novelist and former Pentagon speechwriter, and professors who study English and public relations critically examine these books from literary and marketing perspectives. Can a book be promotional and still have literary merit?


Participants

Moderator:

Rachael Hanel is a writer and professor of mass media in Mankato, Minnesota. She has written several books, including a memoir and nonfiction books for children. Her essays have appeared in numerous print and online literary journals.

Jesse Goolsby is the author of the novel I'd Walk with My Friends If I Could Find Them. A recipient of the Florida Book Award and the Richard Bausch Fiction Prize, his recent work appears in Epoch, the Literary Review, Pleiades, and Blackbird. He is the fiction editor at War, Literature & the Arts.

Keith Urbahn is the cofounder and President of the Javelin literary agency. As DC's largest and most active literary agency, Javelin represents politicians, journalists, historians, and more. Keith is a former Pentagon speechwriter and chief of staff to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Stephanie Li is the Susan D. Gubar Chair in Literature at Indiana University. She is the author of four books including the award-winning Something Akin to Freedom and most recently Playing in the White: Black Writers, White Subjects.

#AWP24

February 7–10, 2024
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Convention Center