Nationality: American. Born: Mary Reiss in Washington, D.C., 1949. Education: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, M.A. 1977. Career: From 1981, member of the Department of English, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Visiting lecturer, Ohio University, Athens, 1979-80; writer-in-residence, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, 1980 and 1985, University of North Carolina, Gree…
Nationality: British and South African. Born: Daphne Marie Pizzey in Boksburg, Transvaal, South Africa, 1914. Education: Durban Girls' High School. Awards: Afrikaanse Pers Beperk prize, 1946. (1991) The places where I have lived have been most important to my writing. My early memories of the Transvaal are reflected in Mittee. Ratoons has for background the South Coast of Natal where I liv…
Nationality: American. Born: Judith Perelman in New York City, 1935. Education: City College of New York, 1952-55. Address: c/o Simon and Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020, U.S.A. Judith Rossner's novels are concerned with women and relationships. In almost all of them, starting with To the Precipice in 1966 and continuing through August in 1983, the story open…
Nationality: American. Born: Newark, New Jersey, 1933. Education: Weequahic High School, New Jersey; Newark College, Rutgers University, 1950-51; Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 1951-54; A.B. 1954 (Phi Beta Kappa); University of Chicago, 1954-55, M.A. 1955. Military Service: Served in the United States Army, 1955-56. Career: Instructor in English, University of Chicago, 1956-58; visi…
Nationality: Indian. Born: Kerala, India, c. 1960. Education: Attended architectural school. Career: Sold cakes on a beach in Goa, India; worked as an architect; actress, screenwriter, and novelist. Lives in New Delhi, India. Awards: Booker prize, 1997. Agent: c/o Random House, 201 East 50th Street, New York, New York 10022, U.S.A. Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things was one of the most…
Nationality: British. Born: Cardiff, Wales, 1928. Education: Cardiff High School for Girls; University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, Cardiff, 1944-47, B.A. (honours) in English 1947. Career: English teacher, Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, Birmingham, 1948-49. Since 1950 documentary film writer and director, for the United Nations and others. Awards: American Blue Ribbon Award, for…
Nationality: Canadian. Born: Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, 1931. Education: Palo Alto High School, California; Mills College, Oakland, California (Ardella Mills award, 1952), 1948-52, B.A. in English 1952 (Phi Beta Kappa); University College, London, 1952-53; Stanford University, California, 1953. Career: Teacher of English and biology, Concord Academy, Massachusetts, 1954-56; assistant d…
Nationality: American. Born: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1932. Education: Rider College, Trenton, New Jersey; Black Mountain College, North Carolina, graduated 1955; Columbia University, New York, M.F.A. 1970. Career: Visiting writer-in-residence, State University of New York, Buffalo, 1967; Lecturer in Creative Writing, New School for Social Research, New York, 1967-71; writer-in-residence and Le…
Nationality: British. Born: Bombay, India, 1947. Education: Cathedral School, Bombay; Rugby School, Warwickshire, 1961-65; King's College, Cambridge, 1965-68, M.A. (honours) in history 1968. Career: Worked in television in Pakistan and as actor in London, 1968-69; freelance advertising copywriter, London, 1970-81; council member, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, from 1985. Sentenced …
Nationality: American. Born: New York City, 1937. Education: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, B.A. 1957; Yale University School of Drama, New Haven, Connecticut, M.F.A. 1960. Career: Lecturer in Speech, Queensborough Community College, New York, 1966-67; instructor, 1967-70, and assistant professor of English, 1970-72, Cornell University; assistant professor of English, State University of Ne…
Nationality: Indian. Born: Allahabad, 1927. Education: Wellesley College, Massachusetts, 1943-47, B.A. in history 1947. Career: Scholar-in-residence, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 1973, 1977; research scholar, Radcliffe Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1976; lecturer, University of Colorado semester-at-sea, 1979; fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center, Washington, D.C., 1981, and…
Nationality: British. Born: Lisa Rynveld, London, 1953. Education: Attended school in London. Career: Farmer of sugar cane, avocados, pears, and sheep, Venezuela, 1972-78. Since 1972, writer. Awards: Somerset Maugham award, 1983, for The Long Way Home; John Llewellyn Rhys memorial prize, 1983, for Slow Train to Milan; Eric Gregory award, 1983, for poetry. Agent: A.M. Heath, 79 St. Martins Lane, Lo…
Nationality: St. Lucian. Born: Castries, St. Lucia. Education: The University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, degree in French. Career: Has lived in France, Ghana, and England. Garth St. Omer creates characters filled with an unrest which they themselves cannot define or explain. It is a malaise of the islands which makes them hesitate even before opportunities which are apparently dazzlin…
Nationality: American. Born: New York City, 1919. Education: McBurney School, New York, 1932-34; Valley Forge Military Academy, Pennsylvania (editor, Crossed Sabres), 1934-36; New York University, 1937; Ursinus College, Collegetown, Pennsylvania, 1938; Columbia University, New York, 1939. Military Service: Served in the 4th Infantry Division of the United States Army, 1942-45: Staff Sergeant. Agen…
Nationality: American. Born: Helena, Arkansas, 1944. Education: Attended Tulane University, 1962-64. Career: Former college instructor, publisher's reader, and magazine editor. Agent: c/o Meredith Bernstein, 470 West End Avenue, New York, New York 10023, U.S.A. The novels of James Sallis exhibit the strong influence of the French New Novelists, who fashion structurally complex existential …
Nationality: American. Born: Fayetteville, Georgia, 1922. Education: Attended Mercer University; Emory University, M.D. 1949. Military Service: Served in military 1943-47. Career: Physician in private practice, Fayetteville, Georgia, 1951—; instructor in creative writing, Emory University, Atlanta, 1991—. Awards: Townsend Prize for Fiction, 1991; D. Lit.: Mercer University, 1987, Emo…
Nationality: American. Born: Salt Lake City, Utah, 1915. Education: Colby College, B.A. 1940, M.A. 1955. Career: Faculty member, Suffolk University, Boston, 1947-48; assistant professor, Brandeis University, 1949-55. Awards: Guggenheim fellowship, 1980; Northwest Booksellers award, 1989. Agent: Blanche Gregory, 2 Tudor City Place, New York, New York 10017, U.S.A. Mrs. Bridge, by Evan S. Connell, i…
Nationality: American. Born: Brooklyn, New York, 1941. Education: Simmons College, Boston; University of Chicago, 1958-66, B.A. 1961, M.A. 1963, Ph.D. 1966. Career: Instructor in English, Wright Junior College, Chicago, 1964-65; instructor, 1965-66, and assistant professor of English, 1966-67, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Assistant Professor, 1967-71, associate professor, 1972-74, si…
Nationality: American. Born: New York City, 1914; son of the Hollywood film pioneer, B.P. Schulberg. Education: Los Angeles High School, 1928-31; Deerfield Academy, 1931-32; Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1932-36, A.B. (cum laude) 1936 (Phi Beta Kappa). Military Service: Served in the United States Navy, 1943-46: Lieutenant. Career: Screenwriter, Hollywood, 1936-39; in charge of photog…
Nationality: Australian-New Zealander. Born: Wellington, New Zealand, 1948 (has dual Australian and New Zealand citizenship). Education: Degrees in English and drama; M.A. in English. Career: Worked variously as waitress, fruit-picker, and script editor, as well as in social work, acting, publishing, and newspaper work. Lives in Sydney, Australia. Awards: Bruce Mason Sunday Times award. Rosie Scot…
Nationality: Indian. Born: Allahabad, India, 1951. Education: La Martiniere College; Delhi University, B.A. (with honors) in English 1971; Western Michigan University, B.A. (with honors) in English 1972, M.A. 1974. Career: Writer. Award: Commonwealth Writers' prize for best first book, 1989, for The Trotter-Nama. Agent: A.P. Watt, 20 John St., London WC1N 2DR, England. Although I. Allan Se…
Pseudonym: Monica Highland (with Lisa See and John Espey). Nationality: American. Born: Carolyn Penelope Laws, Pasadena, California, 1934. Education: Los Angeles City College, A.A.; California State University, Los Angeles, M.A., Ph.D. Career: Waitress, 1950s; teaching assistant, 1960s; professor of English, Loyola Marymount University, 1970-85; visiting professor of English, 1986-89, and adjunct …
Nationality: American. Born: Brooklyn, New York, 1928. Educated in New York City public schools, including Peter Stuyvesant High School. Military Service: Served in the United States Merchant Marine, 1944-46. Career: Hospital patient, with tuberculosis, 1946-50; held various jobs, including seaman and insurance clerk, 1950-64. Lives in Los Angeles. Member: Writer's Guild of America, and Aut…
Nationality: British. Born: London. Awards: Geoffrey Faber Memorial prize, 1993, for The Quantity Theory of Insanity. Will Self is a satirist on the order of Swift and Voltaire writing in the England of Malcolm Bradbury, David Lodge, and Martin Amis. Drawing on his experience as a heroin addict, a philosophy student at Oxford, and a cartoonist, he has crafted a style perfectly suited to his time a…
Nationality: Sri Lankan (Ceylonese)-Canadian. Born: Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1963; immigrated to Canada, 1984. Education: York University, Toronto, B.F.A. Career: Novelist, essayist, and writer for television. Awards: Smithbooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award, 1997; Lambda Literary Award for gay men's fiction (Lambda Literary Foundation), 1997. Agent: William Morrow & Company, Inc., 13…
Nationality: Indian. Born: Calcutta, India, 1952. Education: Doon School, India; Corups Christi College, Oxford, B.A. 1975; Stanford University, M.A. in economics 1979; Nanjing University, 1982. Career: Senior editor, Stanford University Press, 1985-86. Awards: Thomas Cook travel book award, 1983, for From Heaven Lake; Ingram Merrill fellowship, 1985-86; Commonwealth poetry prize, 1986; Guggenheim…
Nationality: American. Born: Charleston, West Virginia, 1918. Education: Sweet Briar College, 1936-38. Military Service: Women's Auxiliary, R.A.F., 1942-43. Career: Editor, Harper's Bazaar, 1945; English correspondant, Flair, 1950-51; associate professor, Bard College, New York, 1956-76. Visiting lecturer, University of Virginia, 1978. Awards: Guggenheim fellow, 1958, 1960; Merrill F…
Nationality: American. Born: New Brunswick, New Jersey (son of well-known author Michael Shaara), 1952. Education: Florida State University, degree in criminology, 1974. Family: Wife's name is Lynne. Career: Founder of rare coin business at age sixteen, eventually incorporated as Florida Coin Exchange, a retail business, sold company in 1988; became full-time writer. Divides his time betwe…
Nationality: New Zealander. Born: Auckland, 1932. Education: Te Kuiti High School; Avondale College; University of Auckland. Career: Journalist for various New Zealand publications, 1952-54; documentary scriptwriter and director for the New Zealand National Film Unit, 1954-57; full-time writer from 1957; lived in London and Spain, 1957-60, then returned to New Zealand. Awards: New Zealand Scholars…
Nationality: British. Born: Thomas Ridley Sharpe in London, 1928. Education: Lancing College, Sussex, 1942-46; Pembroke College, Cambridge, 1948-51, M.A.; teacher's training, Cambridge University, 1962-63, P.C.G.E. 1963. Military Service: Served in the Royal Marines, 1946-48. Career: Social worker, 1951-52, and teacher, 1952-56, Natal, South Africa; photographer, Pietermaritzburg, South Afr…
Nationality: American. Born: London, England, 1930; emigrated to the United States in 1940. Education: Downside Academy, Bath; Lincoln College, Oxford, B.A. 1954, M.A. 1957. Career: Film critic, 1957-61, and associate editor, 1959-66, Jubilee magazine, New York; drama critic and book editor, Commonweal magazine, New York, 1964-67; film critic, Esquire magazine, New York, 1967-69; Visiting Lecturer…
Nationality: Canadian and American. Born: Carol Warner, Oak Park, Illinois, 1935. Education: Hanover College, Indiana, 1953-57, A.B.; University of Ottawa, 1969-75, M.A. Career: Editorial assistant, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 1972-74; faculty member, University of Ottawa, 1976-77, and University of British Columbia, 1978-79. Since 1980, faculty member, University of Manitoba; since 1996, chancellor…
Nationality: American. Born: Dedham, Massachusetts, 1946. Education: Tufts University. Career: Journalist assigned to Nairobi, Kenya, late 1970s; writer for US magazine, New York Times, and New York magazine, New York; freelance writer, 1986—; has taught at Amherst College, Massachusetts. Lives in western Massachusetts. Awards: PEN/L. L. Winship Award; New England Book Award for Fiction. An…
Nationality: American (Pakistani exile, emigrated to United States, 1984). Born: Bapsi Bhandara, Karachi, Pakistan, 1938. Education: Kinnaird College for Women, B.A. 1956. Career: Conducted novel writing workshops, Rice University, 1984-86; assistant professor of creative writing, University of Houston, 1985. President, International Women's Club of Lahore, 1975-77. Pakistan's delega…
Nationality: American. Born: Chicago, Illinois, 1926. Education: The University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. in English 1950. Staff Sergeant in the United States Army Infantry, 1944-46. Career: Assistant to the Wage Coordinator, United Auto Workers, Detroit, 1946-47; story analyst, Columbia Pictures, Hollywood, 1952-54; agent, Jaffe Agency, Los Angeles, 1954-56. Member, Citizens Committee to D…