In this episode, we’ll discuss the life and work of fiction writer Kate Chopin, who dared to write about female sexuality, longing, and identity at a time when women were expected to focus on husbands and family. Chopin’s works mostly take place in Louisiana and lyrically reflect the many cultures of the region: Creoles, Acadians, African-Americans, and others.
Her first novel, At Fault in 1890, went largely unnoticed, but her second, The Awakening in 1899, caused a stir. In this nuanced story, a woman strives to reconcile outward conformity and inward passion—and seeks to realize her potential beyond marriage. She also wrote about a hundred short stories in the 1890s that were well received in popular magazines. Chopin’s work was mostly forgotten after her death in 1904, but scholars have since rediscovered it and praised it for its truthful depictions of women’s lives.
Thank you to the Kate Chopin International Society, whose website includes a number of resources to learn more about her. For this episode, we are joined by two co-founders of this organization. Bernard Koloski is the author of Kate Chopin: A Study of the Short Fiction and the editor of multiple Chopin anthologies. And Heather Ostman is President of the Kate Chopin International Society and the author or editor of ten books, including most recently Kate Chopin and the City: The New Orleans Stories. You can read their full bios below.
Bernard and Heather are interviewed by Nate King, Digital Content Associate at the American Writers Museum. This conversation originally took place March 8th, 2024 and was recorded over Zoom.
Bernard Koloski is the author of Kate Chopin: A Study of the Short Fiction and editor of Approaches to Teaching Chopin’s The Awakening as well as Awakenings: The Story of the Kate Chopin Revival. He edited Penguin Classics editions of Chopin’s novel At Fault and her two books of short stories Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie. He also edited The Historian’s Awakening: Reading Kate Chopin’s Classic Novel as Social and Cultural History and edits the Kate Chopin entry in the Oxford Bibliography of American Literature.
Heather Ostman is President of the Kate Chopin International Society, and she teaches English at SUNY Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY. She is the author or editor of ten books, five of which are on the fiction of Kate Chopin, including Kate Chopin and the City: the New Orleans Stories, which was published this year by Palgrave Macmillan.