Mordecai Richler was never more engaged than on the subject of his hometown. In his work he sketched a brilliant comedic canvas of social striving and upward mobility; in his life he cherished the version of Montreal he believed most bold and open, Canada’s only great city. The intersection of the two impulses, in conjunction with the rise of Quebec nationalism, consumed much of his adult life, and came at a cost to his legacy. A lecture about the complex, and as yet unresolved, relationship between a major artist and his society.

Mr. Foran is the author of the recent and much acclaimed biography Mordecai: the Life & Times. Hosted by the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas and the Friends of the Library, in collaboration with the Department of English, the Département de langue et littérature françaises, and the Faculty of Arts Development Office, with support from Benjamin News.