“None of this is new,” said Grossman, current holder of Fordham’s Mary Higgins Clark Chair in Creative Writing. “Shakespeare trafficked in all manner of ghosts, so did Dante and Milton, they were all fantasists dealing in emotional reality.”

The book is the cornerstone for Fordham College at Lincoln Center’s Year of Magic, a series of events for first-year students that look at magic through a variety of academic disciplines. The novel has also inspired an ongoing SyFy network television series, which examines the practice of magic in the real world.

Grossman said that the creators of the television show—which examines the practice of magic in the real world—often consult with him on the script, but they have indeed “made it their own.” He said that many of the book’s characters and settings remain the same, though the storyline often veers in directions distinct from the book.

“Stories on screen are shaped very different from books, they have looping plots, and those loops have to fit together for the season and to make seasonal arcs,” he said.

“In TV, the plot surfaces, but in novels you can move back and forward in time and space,” he said. “There’s no one more powerful than a narrator of a novel; it’s absolutely the most magical thing there is.”

On the subject of magic, he said that he was, like most young people, attracted to fantasy from an early age.

“It’s really the lingua franca for kids, but I didn’t write about until I was in my mid-thirties,” he said. “By the mid-aughts, it had become so central to our culture, with Lord of the Rings, Twilight, and Harry Potter.”

He said that he read fantasy “compulsively.” In his book, he describes characters who do magic compulsively, even addictively—like a drug. They live secret lives in shambled homes akin to crack houses. But that’s not to say fantasy is about escapism, he said. It’s about facing the truth.

“Fantasy is a way at getting at real issues,” he said.

In his Mary Higgins Clark Chair in Creative Writing Lecture on Oct. 15, Grossman said he’ll explore a variety of themes, from magic to the professional lives of writers and even changes that have occurred since he wrote the book in 2009. Several students have already commented on the lack of diversity in the novel and issues related to gender portrayal.

“I hope students will feel comfortable bringing that up personally at the Q&A at the lecture,” he said.

Because everyone seems to have an option on writing these days, literary critics have had to find a new role, Grossman said, particularly at time when Amazon reviews usurp traditional book criticism.

“Literary criticism has become about how to read and less about thumbs up or thumbs down,” he said. “Today’s critics look at ways of analyzing texts and ways of being aware when reading text, which makes reading more exciting.”

He said that the times also demand different entrées into books. At the lecture, he’ll also discuss particular tools in writing, such as how to write a catchy opening.

“When you’re writing nowadays, you have to remember that people buy based on an excerpt or from the first page,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of a slow burn, it helps to hook and grab. I like to focus on these little moments.”

He said that the title of his lecture, “I Did It Wrong,” hints at the hard-knocks path of getting published, adding that he had no meaningful success until he was 40. Preparing for the lecture made him think about how long it took for him to feel like he was having any success as a creative person.

“There isn’t any right way to do this and everybody thinks they do it wrong, so I want them to understand what’s ahead,” he said. “My lecture will be much more personal; I want to talk about the experience of trying to be a creative person in the world and the kinds of compromises and challenges and you have to deal with.”

Writing can be a very lonely business, he said, and rejection doesn’t help. The reality is that the feeling of personal rejection is part of the business.

“The world will try to convince you that you are not a creative person and the trick is to make sure it doesn’t succeed.”

Before they even set foot on campus, students were asked to read Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. The novel, which has inspired an ongoing television series on the SyFy network, examines the practice of “magic” in the real world. It will act as a touchstone for conversation and creative thinking at events throughout the year, which have already begun in earnest.

The initiative is part of a concerted effort to create camaraderie through critical thinking about a particular subject, said Fred Wertz, Ph.D., acting dean of FCLC.

“Rose Hill has Eddies Parade, sports teams, University Church,” said Wertz. “Manhattan is different; there are more distractions. This year we’re taking a distinct approach to forging community.”

This year, Grossman holds Fordham’s Mary Higgins Clark Chair in Creative Writing, which will bring him to campus to teach and to deliver a lecture on Oct 15.

Though magic exists in the realm of fantasy, Grossman said it can also explore deeper truths than some nonfiction.“I don’t really believe fantasy is an escape—it’s unfortunate that it’s called that. Fantasy and magic are ways at getting at real issues,” he said. “Shakespeare trafficked in all manner of ghosts, so did Dante and Milton, they were all fantasists dealing in emotional reality.” [Read Fordham News’ Q&A with Grossman]

Mary Bly, Ph.D., FCLC associate dean and professor of English and chair of the Freshman Book Committee, said Grossman was chosen for his best seller’s intellectualized look at magic.

“Magic is imagination at its most powerful point,” she said. “It’s not to say magic is real, but this is how people think.”

Bly said choosing Grossman also stayed true to the vision of the chair’s namesake, best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark, FCLC ’79, who encouraged looking at complex ideas though accessible language.

“The committee’s hope was that the freshman book would provide a fruitful, substantial base for intellectual discussion,” said Bly. “In fact, students challenged the book on a number of grounds that included its lack of diversity and perceived issues around gender relations. Grossman was excited to hear about the generative engagement in his book.”

In the upcoming lecture, Grossman said, he’ll explore a variety of themes, from magic to the professional lives of writers and even changes that have occurred since he wrote the book in 2009. He’s happy to have the chance to address the students’ concerns about the book in person.

“I hope students will feel comfortable bringing that up personally at the Q&A at the lecture,” he said.

Wertz said the dean’s office has encouraged participation in the magical theme throughout many University departments, from Mission Integration and Planning to Student and Residential Life.

Last month, Louise Mirrer, Ph.D., former Fordham lecturer and president of the New-York Historical Society, gave first-year students free access to the museum’s exhibition The History of Magic. Students went with advisers, including Wertz and Bly, who took the group to nosh on tacos afterwards.

Professors have also brought magic into the curriculum in the fine and performing arts, the humanities, and the natural and social sciences. Anthropology professor Stewart Guthrie, Ph.D., is teaching a course called Magic, Science, and Religion. Starting Oct. 19, Wertz himself will be offering a series of sessions called LC After Dark for residents and commuters.

The sessions will center on I Ching (Book of Changes), the oldest of the five classics of Confucianism.

“I will invite freshmen to discuss whether and in what way we might call divination ‘magic,’ and I will relate I Ching reading to such long standing spiritual activities as the exercises developed by St. Ignatius,” said Wertz. “It is noteworthy that the first person to translate the I Ching, into Latin, and to introduce it to the West was the Jesuit Jean Baptiste Regis.”

In the performing arts realm, Fordham Theatre will hold a talk on Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. on theater magic by Adeola Role, an actress playing in the ensemble of Harry Potter on Broadway. The dean’s office will give away two sets of tickets at the show at the talk. And this spring, students from Alvin Ailey will stage a performance based on the hand movements seen in the show. There will also be events focused on the TV show that is based on The Magicians. Residential life will hold periodic screenings of the show (with pizza!).

Bly emphasized that beyond stage and screen, beyond popular books, there are practical reasons for engaging magical thinking.  She riffed on the famous quote from Ghandi, saying that in order to be the change you want to see in the want in the world, you need to imagine the change.

“The ability to imagine something and make it work, wave a wand, is not just the first step in magic, it’s also the first step in everything creative, in writing, in acting, or in a scientific experiment,” she said.