Janet Fitch | |
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Born | Janet Elizabeth Fitch [1] November 9, 1955 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Writer |
Alma mater | Reed College |
Genre | Literary Fiction |
Notable works | White Oleander |
Janet Fitch (born November 9, 1955) [1] is an American author. She wrote the novel White Oleander , which became a film in 2002. She is a graduate of Reed College. [2]
Fitch was born in Los Angeles, a third-generation native, and grew up in a family of voracious readers. As an undergraduate at Reed College, Fitch had decided to become a historian, attracted to its powerful narratives, the scope of events, the colossal personalities, and the potency and breadth of its themes. But when she won a student exchange to Keele University in England, where her passion for Russian history led her, she awoke in the middle of the night on her twenty-first birthday with the revelation she wanted to write fiction. [3]
Fitch was a faculty member in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California, where she taught fiction.
Two of her favorite authors are Fyodor Dostoevsky [4] and Edgar Allan Poe.
Her third novel, Paint It Black , named after the Rolling Stones song of the same name, was published in September 2006. Amber Tamblyn directed a 2016 feature film based on the book. [5]
Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first Afrо-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple. Over the span of her career, Walker has published seventeen novels and short story collections, twelve non-fiction works, and collections of essays and poetry.
Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987); she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
Toni Cade Bambara, born Miltona Mirkin Cade, was an African-American author, documentary film-maker, social activist and college professor.
Amber Rose Tamblyn is an American actress and author. She first came to national attention in her role on the soap opera General Hospital as Emily Quartermaine at the age of 11. She followed with a starring role on the prime-time series Joan of Arcadia, portraying the title character, Joan Girardi, for which she received Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Her feature film work includes roles such as Tibby Rollins from the first two The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Megan McBride in 127 Hours (2010), as well as the critically acclaimed film, Stephanie Daley opposite Tilda Swinton which debuted at The Sundance Film Festival and for which Tamblyn won Best Actress at The Locarno International Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. In 2016, she made her directorial debut with the film Paint It Black starring Alia Shawkat and based on Janet Fitch's 2006 novel of the same name. In 2021 she starred opposite Diane Lane in FX's Y: The Last Man.
White Oleander is a 1999 novel by American author Janet Fitch. The novel, dealing with themes of motherhood, tells the story of a girl named Astrid who is separated from her mother, Ingrid, and placed in a series of foster homes. It was chosen for Oprah's Book Club in May 1999, after which it became a national bestseller and adapted into a 2002 film.
Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn, is an American film and television actor and dancer.
White Oleander is a 2002 American drama film directed by Peter Kosminsky. The film stars Alison Lohman in the central role of Astrid Magnussen and Michelle Pfeiffer as her manipulative mother, Ingrid, with Robin Wright, Noah Wyle, and Renée Zellweger in supporting roles. The screenplay was adapted from Janet Fitch's 1999 novel White Oleander, which was selected for Oprah's Book Club in May 1999.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an Indian-born American author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Her short story collection, Arranged Marriage, won an American Book Award in 1996. Two of her novels, as well as a short story were adapted into films.
A Master of Professional Writing Program is a type of graduate degree program in professional writing. Chatham University in Pennsylvania has an online MPW program. The University of Southern California's MPW program ended in May 2016, at which point it moved to the Vermont College of Fine Arts under the new name the School of Writing and Publishing.
Bridgette Andersen was an American child actress and child model. She starred in 1982's Savannah Smiles, for which she received her first of four Youth in Film Award nominations.
The oleander is a poisonous plant grown as an ornamental.
Jeanne Leiby was an American teacher, fiction writer and literary magazine editor. Leiby's short stories were published in several U.S. literary journals, including Fiction, Indiana Review, The Greensboro Review, and New Orleans Review. In 2000, she won the Poets and Writers Writer Exchange. Her first collection of short stories, Downriver, was published by Carolina Wren Press as the 2006 winner of the Doris Bakwin prize. Leiby also served as fiction editor of Black Warrior Review and as the Editor in Chief of the Florida Review (2004–2007). In Spring 2008, she took over as editor of The Southern Review at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Amber is a feminine given name taken from amber, the fossilized tree resin that is often used in the making of jewelry. The word can also refer to a yellowish-orange color.
Paint It Black is the third novel by American author Janet Fitch. Paint it Black is set in Los Angeles, California during the 1980s punk rock scene. There are references to artists and events of that era, such as the Germs and the death of John Lennon, along with insights into the art world that surrounds the protagonist, Josie.
The Write Place At the Write Time is an online triannual literary magazine that publishes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and interviews. It was first published in 2008 and is listed on websites such as Poets & Writers.
"Paint It Black" is a 1966 song by The Rolling Stones.
Paint It Black is a 2016 American film directed by Amber Tamblyn and co-written with Ed Dougherty based on Janet Fitch's 2006 novel of the same name. The film premiered at the 2016 LA Film Festival. The story centers on how a young artist's suicide affects his mother and girlfriend, who blame each other for the tragedy.
Renée Watson is an American teaching artist and author of children's books, best known for her award-winning and New York Times bestselling young adult novel Piecing Me Together, for which she received the John Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Josette Frank Award for fiction. Watson founded the nonprofit I, Too, Arts Collective to provide creative arts programs to the Harlem community.
Brandy Colbert is an American author of young adult fiction and non-fiction, best known for her Stonewall Children's Award-winning novel Little & Lion.