Literary Legends 2014

For the first ever Literary Legends event, the Albany Public Library honored three local writers: William Kennedy, Paul Grondahl and Amy Biancolli.

William Kennedy is the author of eight fiction works, three nonfiction works, two children’s books and two plays. One of his fiction novels, Ironweed, earned him the 1984 Pulitzer Prize. He taught creative writing and journalism as an instructor from 1974 to 1982 at the University at Albany, where he is now a professor in the English Department. Kennedy also founded the NYS Writers Institute at Albany. He currently resides in Averill Park with his wife Daisy Sosa and three children.

Amy Biancolli is the author of three books: Fritz Kreisler: Love’s Sorrow, Love’s Joy (1998), House of Holy Fools: A Family Portrait in Six Cracked Parts (2004), and Figuring Sh!t Out: Love, Laughter, Suicide, and Survival (2014). She runs a blog through her website, which she says is “a blog about life in all its wild, beautiful, variegated, sacred, profane, often difficult glory.” Biancolli is also an arts writer for the Times Union of Albany. She currently lives in Albany with her three children.

Paul Grondahl is currently the Director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany. He is the author of several books: Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma (1997), That Place Called Home (2000), I Rose Like a Rocket (2004), Now Is The Time: A History of Parsons Child and Family Center 1829-2004 (2006), These Exalted Acres (2013) and his most recent, Great Dogs of Albany and Beyond (2015). Grondahl is also an award winning reporter for the Time Union of Albany. He currently resides in Guilderland, NY with his wife and two children.