Maira Kalman is an illustrator, author and designer, best-known (to me, at least) as a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. And for the for the launch of her new, illustrated edition of Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, she’ll be in conversation with New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly at Books Are Magic on March 11.
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, originally published in 1933, was written by poet and novelist Gertrude Stein from the perspective of her life partner, Toklas. The two met in Paris in 1907, and lived together from 1910 until Stein’s death in 1946. The book, which turned into a commercial success, details their lives in Paris and their community of avant-garde artists including Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse. Kalman brings the new edition to life with colorful illustrations to complement the witty and compelling work.