Episode Details

On this special episode of CUNY Laureates, we look back at three CUNY graduates and Guggenheim Fellows who’ve all channeled the essence of New York City through the art of the pen.

After her father left the family to join a religious cult in Harlem, Paule Marshall (Guggenheim Fellow, 1961) grew up listening to what she called the “kitchen poetry” of her mother and the other housewives of their West Indian community in Bed Stuy. After receiving her bachelor’s degree at Brooklyn College in 1953 and a master’s degree at Hunter College in 1955, Paule published her debut novel, “Brown Girl, Brownstones,” about Barbadian immigrants struggling to find the American Dream in Brooklyn, New York. She traveled internationally for her work as a travel writer for the African-American magazine Our World, and later on a State Department-sponsored European tour with the writer Langston Hughes. In addition to her Guggenheim, Paule received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1994 for her writing.

Ben Katchor (Guggenheim Fellow, 1995) is an American cartoonist who’s been working in the medium for over 50 years since getting his start at Brooklyn College. Perhaps best known for his work "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer,” the graphic novel created a kind of alternate version of New York City as seen through the eyes of Katchor. A recipient of both a Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowship, he also writes plays and teaches at Parsons School of Design, the New School. He is also the author of The Dairy Restaurant, an illustrated history of these unique establishments.

Sol Yurick (Guggenheim Fellow, 1972) worked as a social investigator for the New York Department of Welfare in the 1950s before quitting to pursue a master’s degree at Brooklyn College, where he wrote his first novel, Fertig. Informed by his experience with “juvenile delinquents” in his previous job, and taking inspiration from the ancient Greek story Anabasis, he wrote his second novel, The Warriors, about a teenage gang in New York City attempting to escape enemy territory. The novel met with great success and was adapted 14 years later into a hit Hollywood film and franchise. Sol was also involved in political activism with student organizations in the 1960s, and wrote several more novels, receiving a Guggenheim for his work in 1972.

00:00 – Intro
00:58 – Paule Marshall
10:59 – Ben Katchor
18:47 – Sol Yurick

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