Legendary comic-book artist Art Spiegelman returned to 92nd Street Y in early October, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Maus by sitting for a conversation with editor Hillary Chute—who he calls the “chief enabler” of his new book, MetaMaus, a project which emerged from him having granted her “free access to [his] rat’s nest of files, archives, artwork, notebooks, journals, books and dirty laundry.”

In today’s featured recording, Spiegelman discusses one of the central questions which any reader of Maus can’t help but ask—Why Comics?—as well as how he has tried to honor both the historical record and his father’s own memories of living through the Holocaust.

Next in the 92Y Poetry Center Main Reading Series: James Fenton and Durs Grünbein on December 12.

In an ongoing effort to share with our readers some of the great literary moments which the Unterberg Poetry Center has presented across the decades, this blog has begun to feature regular postings of archival recordings. For access to other recordings, please click here.

Unterberg Poetry Center webcasts and access to our archive are made possible in part by the generous support of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.

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