Nathaniel Popkin (born August 23, 1969) is a Philadelphia-based writer, editor, and historian.[1] He is the author of Song of the City (2002, Basic Books), The Possible City (2008, Camino Books), Lion and Leopard (2013, The Head and The Hand Press), Philadelphia: Finding the Hidden City (2017, Temple University Press), and Everything is Borrowed (2018, New Door Books). He is the co-editor of Who Will Speak for America? (2018, Temple University Press.) He co-founded the Hidden City Daily[2] in 2011.

Nathaniel Popkin
Born (1969-08-23) August 23, 1969 (age 55)
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania,
University of Pennsylvania School of Design
Genrefiction, non-fiction
Notable worksEverything is Borrowed, Who Will Speak for America?

Education

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Popkin received a BA, Philosophy from University of Pennsylvania in 1991 a MCP from University of Pennsylvania School of Design in 1994. He attended Spéos Photographic Institute[3] in Paris in 1998.

Career

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After working as an environmental organizer in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, Popkin pursued various positions in community development in Philadelphia. In 1999, he began working on a book of reportage, Song of the City: An Intimate History of the American Urban Landscape, published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 2002.[4]

In 2006, he began writing opinion essays for the Philadelphia City Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and PhillySkyline.com,[5] on architecture, history, literature, and comparative urban development. His work in this period asserted a positivist philosophy on Philadelphia and American cities. In 2007, he was named writer in residence of Philadelphia University, where Song of the City was taught to all freshmen as part of the First Year Experience program.[6] In 2008, Popkin was named writer-in-residence again and a new book, The Possible City: Exercises in Dreaming Philadelphia (Camino Books, 2008) was named as 2008-2009 First Year Experience book.

In 2011, Popkin co-founded the Hidden City Daily,[2] a web magazine covering Philadelphia's past, present, and future.[7]

In 2011–12, Popkin served as the guest architecture critic of The Philadelphia Inquirer.[8]

In 2008, Popkin became the writer of Sam Katz's history documentary, “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment,”[9] which broadcasts regionally in installments on Philadelphia's ABC network channel, WPVI-TV.[10] In 2014 and 2015 he won Mid-Atlantic chapter Emmy awards for writing the documentary.[11]

In 2013, Popkin began writing on literary subjects for The Smart Set,[12] with a particular focus on literature on place and global literature in translation.

His third book and first novel, Lion and Leopard, was published in 2013.[13]

In 2014, Popkin became the Fiction Review Editor of the literary journal Cleaver Magazine.[14] That year he began writing essays on literary topics and literary criticism, often of books in translation, and his work has continued to be featured in the Wall Street Journal,[15] Kenyon Review,[16][17] the Millions,[18] The Rumpus,[19][20] and LitHub.[21]

Popkin is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and a member of PEN America.[22]

From 2016 to 2018 he was the writer-in-residence[23] at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia.

After the election of Donald J. Trump in November 2016, Popkin co-organized (along with poet Alicia Askenase and novelist Stephanie Feldman) Writers Resist Philadelphia, a day of literary protest January 15, 2017.[24] He and Stephanie Feldman went on to edit Who Will Speak for America?[25] a collection of work from 40 writers, poets, and artists responding to the Trump administration.

In 2017, Popkin co-authored, along with Joseph E.B. Elliott and Peter Woodall, Philadelphia: Finding the Hidden City.[26]

Popkin's novel Everything is Borrowed[27] was published by New Door Books in Spring 2018.[28]

In 2018, Popkin wrote the documentary film Sisters in Freedom,[29] which was produced by History Making Productions.

In 2018, Popkin began writing extensively about the ecological crisis. His work, "The Gun to Our Heads",[30] was published by Public Books in October.[31] The New York Times published a follow-up in December 2018[32] naming this new era the "Age of Loss".[33]

References

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  1. ^ "About". nathanielpopkin.net. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  2. ^ a b "Hidden City Philadelphia | Home". hiddencityphila.org. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  3. ^ "Photography School London Paris - Speos". Photography School Paris London - Speos. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  4. ^ "Song of the city : an intimate portrait of the American urban landscape". bepl.ent.sirsi.net. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  5. ^ "phillyskyline.com". phillyskyline.com. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "Don't Miss Special Series of Readings and Discussions | PhilaU Today". wordpress.philau.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  7. ^ "Hidden City Philadelphia | Team". hiddencityphila.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  8. ^ "Fluid vision". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  9. ^ "Philadelphia: The Great Experiment - FULL EPISODES!". 6abc Philadelphia. May 7, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  10. ^ "historyofphilly". historyofphilly. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  11. ^ "2014 Emmy Recipients | NATAS Mid-Atlantic Chapter". natasmid-atlantic.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  12. ^ "Crossing Borders". The Smart Set. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  13. ^ "Lion and Leopard". www.spdbooks.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  14. ^ "Masthead • Cleaver Magazine". Cleaver Magazine. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  15. ^ http://nathanielpopkin.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Writing-on-the-Margins.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ http://www.kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2014-fall/selections/the-empathy-exams-by-leslie-jamison-738439/%7Cthe [dead link]
  17. ^ "On Leslie Jamison | Kenyon Review Online". www.kenyonreview.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  18. ^ "Confining Roberto Bolaño's '2666' to the Stage". March 2, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  19. ^ "Dead People By Morgan Meis And Stefany Anne Goldberg - The Rumpus.net". therumpus.net. 21 July 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  20. ^ "Dead People by Morgan Meis and Stefany Anne Goldberg". The Rumpus.net. 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  21. ^ "Translating This Broken World: How to Tell a Refugee's Story". April 26, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  22. ^ "Nathaniel Popkin - PEN America". PEN America. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  23. ^ "The Athenaeum of Philadelphia". www.facebook.com. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  24. ^ Dan Geringer, Staff. "Local writers resist, fearing erosion of freedoms". www.inquirer.com. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  25. ^ Feldman, Stephanie; Popkin, Nathaniel (July 2, 2018). Who Will Speak for America?. Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1439916247.
  26. ^ Joseph E. B. Elliott; Nathaniel Popkin; Peter Woodall (October 13, 2017). Philadelphia: Finding the Hidden City. Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1439913000.
  27. ^ "Everything Is Borrowed". New Door Books. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  28. ^ Timpane, John (11 July 2018). "Nathaniel Popkin is a Philly author with a rare double play: Two new books at once". www.philly.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  29. ^ "HMP | Sisters In Freedom". historyofphilly. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  30. ^ "A Gun to Our Heads". October 31, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  31. ^ "A Gun to Our Heads". Public Books. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  32. ^ Popkin, Nathaniel (2018-12-27). "Opinion | A Forest of Ancient Trees, Poisoned by Rising Seas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  33. ^ Popkin, Nathaniel (December 27, 2018). "Opinion | A Forest of Ancient Trees, Poisoned by Rising Seas". The New York Times. Retrieved August 15, 2019.