Interview with Elizabeth Hardwick, October 9, 1977

Interview Summary

Elizabeth Hardwick (1916-2007) was a Lexington-born writer and literary critic. She came to the University of Kentucky in 1934, and obtained a bachelor's degree in 1938 and a master's degree in 1939. She later co-founded The New York Review of Books in 1962, along with authoring several books, including The Ghostly Lover (1945), The Simple Truth (1955), and Sleepless Nights (1979).

In this interview Hardwick focuses on her time as a student at the University of Kentucky. She talks about why she chose to attend UK, and her first impressions. She talks about her friends at the time, who she says shared interests in literature, politics, and other intellectual ideas. She talks about how she became politically conscious, beginning with her time in New York to listening to the news with her father. She talks about some of her political ideas at the time, and discusses how this influenced her views of other college activities like sororities and student newspapers. She talks about some of the university people she met in Lexington, including various professors as well as university presidents McVey and Singletary. Throughout the interview she gives her opinion of various writers.

Hardwick discusses why she obtained her masters degree at UK. She talks about choosing between Louisiana State University and Columbia University for her doctoral education, and why she ultimately did not continue with her education for her PhD. She talks about being published in New Mexico Quarterly and her subsequent publication in other periodicals.

Interview Keyword

University of Kentucky

Interview LC Subject

Hardwick, Elizabeth Hardwick, Elizabeth--Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.