Selected Letters of John Updike with James Schiff and Michael Updike

The Brattleboro Literary Festival hosted James Schiff and Michael Updike, John's son, in conversation, about Schiff's recent book, "Selected Letters of John Updike," (Knopf 2025), which was named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and listed as one of The New Yorker’s Best Books of the Year and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Books of the Fall.

Also appearing to read some of John Updike's letters is Michael's wife Olga Karasik-Updike.

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED DURING PARTS OF THE VIDEO READINGS DUE TO EXPLICIT SEXUAL DESCRIPTIONS.

James Schiff is the author or editor of six books on contemporary American fiction.

Lisa Halliday wrote in The Telegraph about the "Letters of John Updike":

“Magnificent. A profoundly poignant portrait, an invaluable historical document, and a timely reflection on the eternal tensions between societal conventions and free speech."

James Schiff was born and raised in Cincinnati. He received his B.A. from Duke University, his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University, and is Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati.

He is the author or editor of six books on contemporary American fiction, including John Updike Revisited and Understanding Reynolds Price. In 2016, he was named by the John H. Updike Literary Trust to edit a volume of the author’s letters, Selected Letters of John Updike.

He is currently working on a biography of Updike and is the editor of The John Updike Review.

Michael Updike spent his childhood in Ipswich, Massachusetts and has lived in Newburyport/ Newbury since 1992. He is an artist, designer and sculptor. For more than three decades he has designed for Mariposa, an import tabletop company, and for the past fifteen years he worked with stone.

He exhibits his carved slate tiles in galleries and art festivals across New England. This winter he presented readings of the recently published Selected Letters of John Updike, edited by James Schiff. He is currently serving on the John Updike Literary Trust.