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The Author Series at The Hay-Adams

The Hay-Adams Author Series recreates a grand literary tradition established by John Hay and Henry Adams in the late 1800s. At the time, their homes were the center of Washington's intellectual and social gatherings, featuring literary giants such as Mark Twain, Edith Wharton and Henry James.

John Hay served as a personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Secretary of State under both William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Henry Adams—the grandson and great-grandson of U.S. Presidents—was a historian and professor at Harvard.  Both men were also accomplished writers who had worked as journalists, authored presidential biographies, and published novels.

In 2005, The Hay-Adams Author Series was launched to renew the spirit of literary discourse that had once occurred on the very land where our historic hotel stands today, in the center of Downtown Washington, DC. The tradition lives on as we now host the most distinguished authors of our time to celebrate their works and share fine food, drink, and lively conversation in a magnificent setting.

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UPCOMING EVENT

Join us for an up-close-and-personal experience with historian and author Paul Fisher
and his latest book, The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World.

A great American artist who also earned renown in Britain, John Singer Sargent holds enigmatic appeal for having charmed and scandalized audiences. He eventually quit a lucrative portrait-painting career to explore the seemingly paradoxical subjects of religion – and nudes. In The Grand Affair, Paul Fisher offers a vivid life of the buttoned-up artist and his unbuttoned work.

Enjoy a lively literary discussion over lunch as the author shares insights and excerpts, followed by a book signing opportunity.

Politics and Prose will be on hand to ensure you can purchase a copy!

12:00 pm

Friday, June 16, 2023

Top of the Hay

Tickets on sale from May 22, 2023

RSVP to MStrother@hayadams.com

$110.00 per person (three-course lunch, wine, tax and gratuity included)

Valet parking available for $32.00

 A Man In A Suit

Paul Fisher is an internationally acclaimed biographer and cultural historian. He is currently Professor of American Studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. His books have been reviewed in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Review of Books, The Spectator, The Scotsman, and other esteemed publications. Educated at Harvard College, Cambridge University, and Yale University, Fisher has taught at Yale, Wesleyan, Emerson College, Boston University, and Harvard.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE