In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Gertrude Stein. A poet, novelist, and essayist, Stein was a towering literary figure in her time. She moved to Paris in 1902 with her partner Alice B. Toklas, where they would spend the remainder of their lives. Together they held regular salons in their apartment that became the stuff of legend, hosting the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, and more.
Stein’s fame as a mentor to other writers often obscures her own accomplishments. Her writing was experimental, both in language and in form. She achieved international celebrity in 1933 with The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, written in the voice of her devoted partner. Other significant works include the 900-page avant-garde epic The Making of Americans, the experimental prose-poem Tender Buttons, and countless essays and letters that further illuminate her desire to reimagine what literature can do.
For this episode, we are joined by biographer Francesca Wade, author of the new book Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife. Pushing beyond the conventions of literary biography, Wade uncovers the origins of Stein’s radical style and highlights the storied relationship that made it possible. Learn more about Wade here and meet her at one of her upcoming events!
Francesca is interviewed by Nate King, Content & Exhibits Manager at the American Writers Museum. This conversation originally took place September 19, 2025 and was recorded over Zoom.
FRANCESCA WADE is the author of Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars (2020) and Gertrude Stein: an Afterlife (2025). She has held fellowships at the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Her writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, Paris Review, Granta and other places.