Connie Ann Kirk | |
---|---|
Born | Wellsville, New York, U.S. | February 14, 1957
Occupation | Writer |
Genre | Nonfiction, Biography, Essays, References, Children's Literature |
Subject | British and American literature, Fiction |
Notable works | Emily Dickinson: A Biography Sky Dancers |
Connie Ann Kirk (born February 14, 1957) is an American author. Her books cover a range of subjects including concise literary biographies for students, bio-critical literary studies, and references. She has also written a fiction picture book for children. Her articles, both in print and online, address topics in literature, poetry, popular culture, history, education, art, television, science, sports, and film.
Connie Ann Kirk was born on February 14, 1957, in Wellsville, New York, [1] and raised in upstate New York.
She received a Ph.D. in English literature and creative writing from Binghamton University in 2004. [1]
Among Kirk's first published books include several titles for Greenwood Press's series of concise biographies for students. One of these, which became a bestseller for the press, was a biography of British author J. K. Rowling. A reviewer at the School Library Journal wrote that "the scholarly writing style and evaluative content make this volume useful to high school students studying Rowling and her work." [2]
That book has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, and Estonian.
In 2004, Kirk's children's picture book -- Sky Dancers—was published by Lee & Low Books. Sky Dancers is about the Mohawk skyscraper builders in 1930s New York City and was selected by The Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education for their Best Children's Books of the Year and by Rutgers University's EconKids program as one of their "Top 5 Books on Human Resources." [3]
Kirk developed an interest in poet Emily Dickinson during her doctoral studies at Binghamton. She has presented her scholarly work on the poet internationally, including at Oxford University. In addition, several of her articles related to the poet appear in academic journals and scholarly books. [4] Her book on Emily Dickinson grew out of her dissertation. [5]
In addition to her published writing in print and online, Kirk has moderated a number of online discussion groups including the Classics, Shakespeare, and Harry Potter forums for the former Barnes & Noble Book Club at BN.com. She also developed and taught a course in Emily Dickinson's life and poetry that offered continuing education credit at the former Barnes & Noble University, also at BN.com.
Joanne Rowling, known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of Harry Potter, a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 600 million copies, been translated into 84 languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films and video games. The Casual Vacancy (2012) was her first novel for adults. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime fiction series, under the alias Robert Galbraith.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a fantasy novel written by the British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the Harry Potter series and was Rowling's debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday when he receives a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry makes close friends and a few enemies during his first year at the school. With the help of his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, he faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents but failed to kill Harry when he was just 15 months old.
Ann Radcliffe was an English novelist, a pioneer of Gothic fiction, and a minor poet. Her technique of explaining apparently supernatural elements in her novels has been credited with gaining respectability for Gothic fiction in the 1790s. Radcliffe was the most popular writer of her day and almost universally admired; contemporary critics called her the "mighty enchantress" and the Shakespeare of romance-writers, and her popularity continued through the 19th century. Interest in Radcliffe and her work has revived in the early 21st century, with the publication of three biographies.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1961.
Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is 48 miles (77 km) northeast of New York City. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. Westport's public school system is ranked as the top public school district in Connecticut and 17th best school district in the United States.
Staples High School is a public high school in Westport, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in District Reference Group A.
Robin McKinley is an American author best known for her fantasy novels and fairy tale retellings. Her 1984 novel The Hero and the Crown won the Newbery Medal as the year's best new American children's book. In 2022, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named her the 39th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.
Cornelia Maria Funke is a German author of children's fiction. Born in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia, she began her career as a social worker before becoming a book illustrator. She began writing novels in the late 1980s and focused primarily on fantasy-oriented stories that depict the lives of children faced with adversity. Funke has since become Germany's "bestselling author for children". Her work has been translated into several languages and, as of 2012, Funke has sold over 20 million copies of her books worldwide.
Andalusia is a historic home once owned by Southern American author Flannery O'Connor. The estate is located in rural Georgia in Baldwin County, Georgia, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Milledgeville. It comprises 544 acres (2.20 km2), including the plantation house where O'Connor wrote some of her last and best-known fiction.
Ralph Fletcher is an American writer of children's picture books, young adult fiction, and poetry. He is also an educational consultant, and author of books for both children and professional educators on the art of writing.
Mimi Reisel Gladstein is a professor of English and Theatre Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her specialties include authors such as Ayn Rand and John Steinbeck, as well as women's studies, theatre arts and 18th-century British literature. In 2011 she was named to the El Paso Historical Hall of Honor.
Jonathan Townley Crane was an American clergyman, author and abolitionist. He was born in Connecticut Farms, in Union Township, New Jersey, and is most widely known as the father of writer Stephen Crane.
A ghoul is a mythical creature originating in pre-Islamic Arabia, often described as hideous human-like monster that dwelt in the desert or other secluded locations in order to lure travellers astray. It was not until Antoine Galland translated the Arabian Nights into French that the western idea of ghoul was introduced. Galland depicted the ghoul as a monstrous creature that dwelled in cemeteries, feasting upon corpses. This definition of the ghoul has persisted until modern times, with ghouls appearing in literature, television and film, as well video games.
Barry Cunningham is a British publisher, who worked for various publishers including Penguin Books and Bloomsbury before setting up Chicken House publishing in 2000. He is most well known for signing J. K. Rowling and publishing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997.
Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie is an American historian of science known especially for her work on the history of women in science. She taught at Oklahoma Baptist University before becoming curator of the History of Science Collections and professor at the University of Oklahoma. She is currently Curator Emeritus, History of Science Collections and Professor Emeritus, Department of the History of Science at the university.
I Never Called It Rape is a 1988 book by journalist Robin Warshaw. The book focuses on the hidden epidemic of acquaintance and date rape. The book is largely based on a nationwide study in the United States, the Ms. Magazine Campus Project on Sexual Assault. The title references the finding in the study that 73% of women whose sexual assault met the definition of rape did not identify their experience as such.
Mary Cross is an American professor, editor, writer and biographer. She has written several books including biographies of figures such as Henry James and Madonna. Madonna biography was reviewed by New York Post as "fast, accurate and concise", became widely quoted and translated. Cross is professor emerita of English at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and she has taught at the City University of New York and University of Delaware. Cross has a PhD from Rutgers University and a BA from the University of Michigan. As an editor, she publisher various works, including 100 People Who Changed 20th-Century America.
Columbia Hall, commonly known as Paresis Hall, was a brothel and gay bar located on 392 Bowery in Manhattan, New York City, in the 1890s. Located near Cooper Union, the Hall was owned by the gangster James T. Ellison.
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt is a 1961 memoir by Eleanor Roosevelt, an American political figure, diplomat, activist and First Lady of the United States while her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was President of the United States. The Autobiography was the fourth of four memoirs written by Roosevelt, the other three being: This Is My Story (1937), This I Remember (1949), and On My Own (1958). She combined those three into The Autobiography. The book was generally well received by critics, who particularly appreciated how the combined memoirs showed Eleanor's development.