Prof. Geraldine Higgins, Director of The Richard Ellmann Lectures in Modern Literature, spoke with the AJC’s Suzanne Van Atten on the 2026 Lectures, featuring Min Jin Lee. The first Asian American writer in the series, Lee is the author of Pachinko (2017) and Free Food for Millionaires (2022), as well as the upcoming novel America Hagwon (September, 2026). The full interview can be read here:
The 2026 Lectures schedule:
March 1st: “The Education of a Writer” delivered by Min Jin Lee. In this lecture, Lee will reflect on her own unlikely path to becoming a novelist and how her writing has been shaped by the education she received, both inside and outside the walls of the university.
March 2nd, “Writing American.” In this lecture, Min Jin Lee will explore what it means to be an American writer in the current moment, reflecting on both her own identity and experiences and how ideas about American literature have been shaped and reshaped over time.
March 3rd, “Writers and the World”— a Creativity Conversation in which Min Jin lee will be joined by acclaimed novelist Tayari Jones (An American Marriage, Kin) for a conversation about the creative process and the ways that culture, geography, and politics inflect their work.
The Ellmann Lectures are free and open to all; tickets required. Free tickets are available through the Schwartz Center Box Office online, by phone at (404) 727-5050, or in person.