KSFR RADIO 101.1 FM SANTA FE NM
Producer and Host: Abigail Adler
Guest: Martin Puchner
MARTIN PUCHNER is the author of more than a dozen books, and anthologies and more than sixty articles and essays. His subjects range from philosophy to theater to world literature.
Which brings us to his latest book , THE WRITTEN WORLD, THE POWER OF STORIES TO SHAPE PEOPLE, HISTORY, CIVILIZATION. This book traces the technologies that have made literature possible. Going back thousands of years Puchner pursues the fascinating story of how people write, how people read, how people spread the word. And how that process not only reflects civilization, but also shapes it.
Puchner grew up in Germany, England and the US. From an early age he studied Latin, French and English. He became fascinated by the puzzle that is language- adding the study of Greek, Hebrew and Yiddish to the mix. He has taught in many countries traversing the globe from Brazil to Beirut, from China to Norway.
Puchner currentlyTeaches at Harvard- before that, Columbia University and Cornell. He joins us by phone from New York City where he is spending the year at the New York Public Library researching his next book..