J. C. Hallman

J.C. Hallman is an American author, essayist, and researcher.

Career

Hallman grew up in Southern California and studied creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and Johns Hopkins University.[1] He has authored six books and his nonfiction combines memoir, history, journalism, and travelogue.[2][3]

In 2017, Hallman’s essay, “Monumental Error,” appearing on the cover of Harper’s Magazine, questioned the presence of the statue of controversial surgeon, J. Marion Sims, in Central Park. The piece contributed to a nationwide debate about Confederate monuments. Sims’s statue was removed in April 2018. Subsequently, Hallman produced op-eds detailing Sims’s career as a spy in Paris and telling the story of another controversial Sims statue in Montgomery, Alabama.[4][5]

He is currently writing a book about Sims, and the young enslaved woman who was his first experimental subject, Anarcha Westcott.[5][6] The work that Hallman has done to find Anarcha's gravesite is featured in a documentary film, Remebering Anarcha.[7][8]

Hallman was a recipient of a 2010 McKnight Artist Fellowship in fiction,[9] and a 2013 Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in the general non-fiction category.[1] Hallman also won Pushcart prize in 2009,[10] and his essay, “A House is a Machine to Live In,” was featured in the 2010 Best American Travel Writing, edited by Bill Buford.[11][12]

Books
  • The Chess Artist (2003), tells the story of Hallman’s friendship with chess player Glenn Umstead. Hallman and Umstead traveled to Kalmykia, in the Russian Federation. Hallman interviewed chess player and murderer, Claude Bloodgood and then-FIDE president, and possible murderer, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
  • The Devil is a Gentleman, (2006) examines modern American religions, including Scientology, the Church of Satan and the Monks of New Skete. The book also considers the life and work of philosopher and religious scholar, William James. Hallman also published an op-ed in the Boston Globe about the 100th anniversary of William James’s essay, “The Moral Equivalance of War.”[13]
  • The Hospital for Bad Poets (2009) is a collection of short stories.
  • In Utopia explores (2010) explores the history of utopian literature and visits six modern utopias, including the oldest intentional community in the United States, Twin Oaks, and the world’s first residential cruise ship, The World.
  • Wm & H’ry (2013) is the story of the brotherhood of William and Henry James, told through an examination of their voluminous correspondence. Hallman contends that the James letters are the most influential correspondence in history.
  • B & Me (2015) is a memoir about love, reading, and the work of Nicholson Baker. It is an example of “creative criticism,” which Hallman has championed in two edited anthologies, The Story About the Story (2009) and The Story About the Story II (2013).[14]

References
  1. "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | J. C. Hallman". Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  2. "J.C. Hallman". The Baffler. 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  3. "The Best of All Possible Worlds: PW Talks with J.C. Hallman". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  4. "[Essay] | Monumental Error, by J. C. Hallman". Harper's Magazine. 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  5. "J Marion Sims: controversial statue taken down but debate still rages". the Guardian. 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  6. "The Women Behind the Statue". Rewire.News. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  7. "Remembering Anarcha | San Francisco Black Film Festival". Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  8. "Remembering Anarcha - Official Trailer - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  9. "An ambitious blog about Minnesota books". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  10. PUSHCART PRIZE XXXIV | Kirkus Reviews.
  11. "The Best American Travel Writing 2010 (The Best American Series ®)". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  12. "A House is a Machine to Live In". Believer Magazine. 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  13. "Boston Globe Online / Editorials | Opinions / Moral equivalence and the war in Iraq". archive.boston.com. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  14. "'B & Me: A True Story of Literary Arousal,' by J.C. Hallman". WashingtonPost.
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