Brian Soucek
The Opinionated University
Town Hall Seattle and Seattle Opera present
Thomas Mallon with Katie Campbell
Opera Talk: Fellow Travelers
EVENT NOTES
Doors for this event will open at 6:30 PM. Town Hall events are approximately 75 minutes long.
Hear from acclaimed author, essayist, and critic Thomas Mallon, whose novel Fellow Travelers (2007) inspired an opera and a SHOWTIME® miniseries. With exacting attention to historical detail, Mallon’s novel brings to life the shameful era in the early 1950s known as the Lavender Scare, during which gay and lesbian federal employees were systematically expelled from government service. More recently, Mallon also published The Very Heart of It (2025), a collection of journal entries during his literary coming-of-age during the AIDS crisis in New York City. Reporter Katie Campbell, creator and host of the KUOW Book Club, will join Mallon for a lively discussion on these works and the lessons they hold for our own time.
Read More
Thomas Mallon’s eleven books of fiction include Henry and Clara, Fellow Travelers, Watergate (a Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award), and Up With the Sun. He has also written volumes of nonfiction about plagiarism (Stolen Words), diaries (A Book of One’s Own), letters (Yours Ever,) and the Kennedy assassination (Mrs. Paine’s Garage), as well as two books of essays (Rockets and Rodeos and In Fact). A collection of his personal journals, The Very Heart of It: New York Diaries, 1983-1994, was published by Knopf in June 2025. Mallon’s work appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and other publications. He received his Ph. D. in English and American Literature from Harvard University and taught for a number of years at Vassar College. His honors include Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, the National Book Critics Circle citation for reviewing, and the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, for distinguished prose style. He has been literary editor of Gentlemen’s Quarterly and deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2012, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. An eight-part dramatic adaptation of his novel, Fellow Travelers, is now streaming on Showtime/Paramount+, and an opera based on the novel has had over a dozen productions throughout the United States. He is Professor Emeritus of English at The George Washington University and lives in Washington, D. C.
Katie Campbell is an editor and reporter for KUOW.org. She has covered a variety of local topics, including Seattle politics, elections, and the arts. She also co-hosts KUOW’s weekly arts podcast, Meet Me Here, highlighting the local literary scene and visiting authors. In 2024, Katie created the KUOW Book Club, featuring stories and authors from the Pacific Northwest. Katie’s picks have included classics, like Timothy Egan’s The Good Rain, and recent hits, like Sonora Jha’s The Laughter. Katie’s interviews with the featured authors have given readers a chance to hear from some of the most talented writers in the region. All readers are invited to join the KUOW Book Club by signing up for the newsletter at kuow.org/books. Katie is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism, a P-Patch gardener and an auntie. Find her on Bluesky: @katiecampbell.bsky.social
Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle Opera.
Events are offered for informational, entertainment, and educational purposes only. Read Town Hall’s Program Content Policy.
