Bernstein Award Finalist Series: Larissa MacFarquhar

May 9, 2016

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In celebration of the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, The New York Public Library invites finalist Larissa MacFarquhar for a conversation with Jessica Strand. Larissa MacFarquhar is nominated for her book Strangers Drowning

New Yorker writer Larissa MacFarquhar examines the psychological roots and existential dilemmas motivating those rare individuals who are practicing lives of extreme ethical commitment. The book shares the deeply intimate and in-depth stories of people who devote themselves fully to bettering the lives of strangers—even when it comes at great personal cost.

Larissa MacFarquhar has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998. Her subjects have included John Ashbery, Barack Obama, and Noam Chomsky, among many others. Previously she was a senior editor at Lingua Franca and an advisory editor at The Paris Review. Strangers Drowning is her first book. She lives in New York.

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Since 1988, the Bernstein Award, which includes a $15,000 cash prize, has been given to journalists whose books have brought clarity and public attention to important issues, events, or policies. Previous winners of the award include Dan Fagin, Katherine Boo, Ellen E. Schultz, Shane Harris, David Finkel and Jane Mayer.  Anand Giridharadas won last year for his acclaimed book, The True American; Murder and Mercy in Texas

The Bernstein Award was established through a gift from Joseph Frank Bernstein, in honor of journalist Helen Bernstein (now Helen Bernstein Fealy).  The family has also endowed the position of Helen Bernstein Librarian for Periodicals and Journals, who curates The New York Public Library’s internationally-renowned Periodicals collection - one of the largest collections of past and present newspapers, magazines, and more in the world. The position is currently held by librarian Karen Gisonny.

More information about the Bernstein Awards and programs here!