Truth and the Novel

Wolf Humanities Center • University of Pennsylvania

2025–2026 FORUM ON TRUTH

Geraldine Brooks

Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth, said Albert Camus. Geraldine Brooks spent half her life as a journalist, running after the truth in difficult places where despots and warlords were desperate to obfuscate. Later she turned to fiction, but her novels always hew as closely as possible to historical truth. In this talk, she will discuss her process as a novelist and how it is informed by the tool kit she acquired as a foreign corespondent covering conflicts in the Mideast, Africa, and the Balkans.

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Australian-born Geraldine Brooks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist renowned for her deeply immersive, character-driven historical novels. Her fiction debut, Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, became an international bestseller, translated into more than 25 languages. Published in ten countries, it was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune in 2001. The novel is currently optioned for a limited series by Olivia Colman’s production company. In 2006 Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her second novel, March. Her other bestsellers include People of the Book, Caleb’s Crossing, The Secret Chord, and Horse.

In addition to fiction, Brooks has authored acclaimed nonfiction books, including Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, Foreign Correspondence: A Penpal’s Journey from Down Under to All Over, and The Idea of Home. Her latest book, Memorial Days, was published in 2025.

In 2025, Brooks also contributed an essay to Michael Lewis’ Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service, a book that started as a major series in the Washington Post. The book profiles various government workers and is an important contribution to the national conversation about the role of government. Brooks writes about the IRS, one of the government’s least popular agencies. She focused on Jared Koopman, head of the IRS’ Criminal Investigations Division, who played a key role in shutting down the Silk Road black market.

Brooks began her career at The Sydney Morning Herald before moving to the U.S. to earn a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She spent 11 years as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, reporting from the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans.

A Radcliffe Institute Fellow at Harvard University in 2005, Brooks also received the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement.

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This event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged.

The Wolf Humanities Center values inclusivity and we aim to create a welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds. Please feel free to note any accessibility needs or concerns in your registration, or connect with us by email or phone (215.573.8280).

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, United States