Photo Source: John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune
- Makkai’s first story, at the age of three, was printed on the side of a cardboard box and told from the viewpoint of her stuffed Smurf doll.
- If you are unfamiliar with Makkai’s work, you can hop over to her website to see where you can read some of her stories online.
- Makkai does not run marathons or do cartwheels, but she does know how to make marshmallows.
- You can read a review of Makkai’s novel The Hundred-Year House written by UntitledTown blogger Grant Cousineau.
- Makkai’s last name is difficult to pronounce. “It’s basically mac-IGH. More like mah-KAH-ee, though. But don’t pronounce the H’s. It kind of rhymes with Hawaii, but not if you’re the kind of person who puts that glottal stop before the I’s. It rhymes with acai (the healthy berry), but with a hard K. It’s actually not that hard. It’s just hard to explain.” Best bet: listen to Rebecca explain it herself.
- Makkai earned her Master’s in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English.
- Makkai looks on the bright side.
- There is a history of writing in Makkai’s family. Her paternal grandmother, Rózsa Ignácz, was a well-known novelist (and actress) in Hungary.
- Makkai’s novel The Great Believers is about the AIDS epidemic in 1980s Chicago.
- Makkai will be reading from this novel at UntitledTown April 28 from 2-3:30 p.m. at the Brown County Library Central Branch – Auditorium (515 Pine Street).