Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt
Born (1963-12-23) December 23, 1963
Greenwood, Mississippi
Occupation Fiction writer
Nationality American
Period 1992–present
Literary movement Neo-romanticism
Notable works The Secret History (1992)
The Little Friend (2002)
The Goldfinch (2013)
Notable awards WH Smith Literary Award (2003)
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2014)
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction (2014)

Donna Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American writer and author of the novels The Secret History (1992), The Little Friend (2002), and The Goldfinch (2013).[1] Tartt won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend in 2003 and the Pulitzer Prize (Fiction) for The Goldfinch in 2014 and she was named in the TIME 100: The 100 Most Influential People in 2014.[2]

Early life

Tartt was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta, and raised in the nearby town of Grenada.

She enrolled in the University of Mississippi in 1981, and her writing caught the attention of Willie Morris while she was a freshman. Following a recommendation from Morris, Barry Hannah, then an Ole Miss Writer-in-Residence, admitted eighteen-year-old Tartt into his graduate short story course. "She was deeply literary," says Hannah. "Just a rare genius, really. A literary star."[3] Following the suggestion of Morris and others, she transferred to Bennington College in 1982, where she was friends with fellow students Bret Easton Ellis, Jill Eisenstadt, and Jonathan Lethem, and studying classics with Claude Fredericks. She dated Ellis for a while after sharing works in progress, The Secret History and Less Than Zero respectively.[4]

Donna Tartt is Roman Catholic.[5]

Writing

Novels

Other writing

As of 2002, Tartt was reportedly working on a retelling of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus for the Canongate Myth Series, a series of novellas in which ancient myths are re-imagined and re-written by contemporary authors.[6] In 2006, Tartt's short story "The Ambush" was named to The Best American Short Stories 2006.

Prose

Donna Tartt, beginning with The Secret History, has largely written in neo-romanticism-inflected prose that borrows heavily from the stylings of 19th century literature. This prose style is relatively uncommon in contemporary American literary fiction, particularly given a present tendency by fiction writers and literary critics to favor a more brief and to-the-point prose style. This prose style also stands in stark contrast to her former classmate Bret Easton Ellis' curt, 20th century-inspired minimalist style in Less Than Zero, which incorporates a similar setting and has some overlap in character types and themes.

Literary themes

A number recurring literary themes occur in Tartt's novels, including those related to social class and social stratification, guilt, and aesthetic beauty.

Awards and honours

Bibliography

Novels
Short stories
Nonfiction
Audiobooks

References

  1. ↑ Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke (12 February 2013). "Donna Tartts long awaited third novel will be published this year". The New York Observer. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Donna Tartt by Ann Patchett
  3. ↑ Lacey Galbraith (Winter 2004). "Interview: Barry Hannah, The Art of Fiction No 184". The Paris Review. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  4. ↑ http://www.languageisavirus.com/donna_tartt/about-bennington.php#.UcPwGj7TUrw
  5. ↑ http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/12/donna-tartts-goldfinch
  6. ↑ "''Independent'': "Whatever happened to Donna Tartt?"". Arlindo-correia.org. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  7. ↑ Kirsten Reach (January 14, 2014). "NBCC finalists announced". Melville House Publishing. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Announcing the National Book Critics Awards Finalists for Publishing Year 2013". National Book Critics Circle. January 14, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ Mark Brown (7 April 2014). "Donna Tartt heads Baileys women's prize for fiction 2014 shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.pulitzer.org/node/8501
  11. ↑ "Donna Tartt: The World's 100 Most Influential People". Time. April 23, 2014.
  12. ↑ http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/carnegieadult
  13. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2014/aug/07/vanity-fairs-best-dressed-list-donna-tartts-life-long-style
  14. ↑ http://www.vanityfair.it/news/mondo/14/10/16/donna-tartt-renzi-agnese-malaparte-cardellino
  15. ↑ Tartt, Donna (1993-04-19). "Fiction: Tam-O'-Shanter" (abstract). The New Yorker. Retrieved 2008-01-14.

Sources

External links

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