Past Event: The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge

Washington Roebling constructed one of America’s most iconic structures, the Brooklyn Bridge, but his story spans much more than just the East River. It’s a story of immigration, personal adversity, and pushing the boundaries of possibility. However, Roebling did not complete this feat alone. Emily Warren Roebling, his wife, played a crucial role in completing this incredible feat of 19th-century engineering. Join Erica Wagner, author of the new biography Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge for an in-depth conversation with fellow writer Kevin Baker about the Roeblings, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the making of modern New York.

Reception and book signing to follow.

About the Speakers: 
Erica Wagner is the author of Ariel's Gift: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, and the Story of Birthday Letters, the novel Seizure and the short story collection Gravity; she is the editor of First Light: A Celebration of Alan Garner. Literary editor of The Times for seventeen years and twice a judge of the Man Booker Prize, she is now a contributing writer for the New Statesman and consulting literary editor for Harper's Bazaar. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, the Economist, the Financial Times, and the New York Times, among others. She was the recipient of the Eccles British Library Writer’s Award in 2014 and she is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. 

Kevin Baker is an award-winning novelist, historian, and journalist whose most recent book is America the Ingenious, How a Nation of Dreamers, Immigrants, and Tinkerers Changed the World (Artisan, 2016). His previous books include The Big Crowd, Strivers Row, Paradise Alley, and Dreamland. He has recently completed a history of New York City baseball for Pantheon.

Off the Page spotlights the best new books about the five boroughs. Each event features a brief reading and a conversation between the author and an expert commentator. Join us afterwards for a reception, book-signing, and meet-and-greet with the author(s).