In early April, English teacher Catherine Schieffelin announced the 2026-2027 Symposium author: Rebecca Makkai.
The Symposium class, a longtime KO tradition, was started by former English teacher Warren Baird and is the crown jewel of KO’s senior English electives. Through the class, students gain the opportunity to dive deeper into a specific author and their works. Furthermore, they get to have dinner with the author and share their class findings with both the Upper and Middle Schools.
When Ms. Schieffelin was chosen to be the Symposium teacher for the 2026-2027 school year, she had a hard choice for who she wanted to invite. However, she quickly chose Ms. Makkai. “I landed on her because she has a great combination of engaging ideas in an accessible style that is still complex with a lot to analyze,” Ms. Schieffelin said. “She is a novelist, but each novel is so different and takes on interesting themes.”
Ms. Makkai, born and raised in Illinois, found her passion for writing quickly. She later studied English at Washington and Lee University and obtained her Master’s degree from Middlebury College. Her debut novel, “The Borrower,” follows a children’s librarian as she tries to save a child from his harmful upbringing. Her next novel, “The Hundred Year House,” is a multi-generational story about a mysterious home outside of Chicago and is told with interesting stylistic elements.
Her third novel and her most famous, “The Great Believers,” follows a group of gay men during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. The novel was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award while winning the Andrew Carnegie Medal and LA Times Book Prize. Finally, her most recent novel, “I Have Some Questions For You,” centers around a film professor/podcaster helping students investigate a decades-old murder at the boarding school she attended in the 1990s.
“Overall, the range of topics and styles really interested me,” Ms. Schieffelin said. “I also wanted someone who would engage with kids really well, and she has a really interesting personality.” Additionally, Ms. Makkai has also published the short story collection, “Music for Wartime.”
Ms. Makkai has also taught at Northwestern University, Middlebury College, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop while currently working with a non-profit organization, Story Studio in Chicago. This was another reason for Ms. Schieffelin’s choice as Ms. Makkai’s experiences can prove to be very valuable and inspiring for the Symposium students and greater KO community.
Ms. Schieffelin looks forward to making the Symposium class a success while taking elements from her previous experience as the Symposium teacher when she invited novelist Jonathan Safran to campus in 2012.
“I intend to make the class very engaging,” Ms. Schieffelin said. “I want to let the students drive the course and connect with kids to envision what we want the course to be.” Another interesting idea that Ms. Schieffelin offered was to start a Symposium alumni book club centered around Makkai’s novels.
She also plans to continue the current Symposium tradition called Symposia, where students bring in foods and drinks. During Symposia, each student delivers a speech praising the author and highlighting their favorite parts. With Ms. Makkai’s writing, students will have a lot to investigate and discuss!
KO looks forward to welcoming Ms. Makkai to campus and is excited to see what the rising senior class learns from Ms. Makkai’s writing and meeting her!
