Brad Bigelow - "Virginia Faulkner"

Brad Bigelow will discuss his book "Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts." A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.

About the Book

Featured writer for the Washington Post at twenty. Author of a hit novel at twenty-one. Coaxed Greta Garbo out of seclusion for a Hollywood party. Ghostwrote the memoirs of New York’s most famous madam, Polly Adler. It’s no wonder Virginia Faulkner was spoken of as the next Dorothy Parker.

But Faulkner also struggled with alcoholism and depression, lost respect for her own work as a writer, and at age forty-two returned to her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, unsure what her next move would be. An opportunity to work for the University of Nebraska Press set her on second act of her life: building the press's reputation and championing the work of the writer she respected above all others: Willa Cather.

In "Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts," Brad Bigelow tells Faulkner’s story—one that’s lively, irreverent, and rich in its commitment to literature of lasting importance. Though her own books have since been forgotten, Faulkner left a legacy of achievement and success in American literature against social and personal odds, and her voice and spirit shine forth in the pages of this book.

About the Author

Brad Bigelow is a writer, teacher, and editor living in Missoula, Montana. He won the 2020 Lorna Sage Prize for creative nonfiction from the University of East Anglia. He edits the Recovered Books series for Boiler House Press and has been a writer for the Neglected Books website, which celebrates the work of little-known writers like Virginia Faulkner, since 2006.

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