Lauren Acampora

Last updated

Lauren Acampora is an American novelist and short story writer. She is the author of The Wonder Garden, a collection of linked short stories, and the novels The Paper Wasp, and The Hundred Waters, all published by Grove Atlantic.

Contents

Biography

A native of Darien, Connecticut, Acampora attended Ox Ridge Elementary School, Middlesex Middle School, and Darien High School. [1] She graduated from Brown University in 1997 [2] and received a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College. [3] She lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, the artist Thomas Doyle, and their daughter. [4]

Writing

Acampora's debut collection of linked stories, The Wonder Garden, was published by Grove Atlantic in 2015. [5] The book won the GLCA New Writers Award. [6] It was also a finalist for the New England Book Awards, was on the longlist for the 2015 Story Prize, [7] and was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. [8] It was reviewed in publications such as The New York Times, [9] The Boston Globe , [10] and The Dallas Morning News [11] and earned four starred pre-publication reviews from Publishers Weekly , [12] Kirkus Reviews , [13] Library Journal, [14] and Booklist . In The Boston Globe, Priscilla Gilman described the book as a "weird, inspired, original collection of 13 interwoven short stories. It is reminiscent of John Cheever in its anatomizing of suburban ennui and of Ann Beattie in its bemused dissection of a colorful cast of eccentrics. But Acampora's is entirely her own book, as it is self-consciously of its own world: Set in the fictional town of Old Cranbury, 'a desirable suburb in a sterling school district, not too far from the city,' with a 'historic pedigree' dating back to the Puritans." [15]

Acampora's debut novel, The Paper Wasp, was published by Grove Atlantic in 2019 [16] and by Quercus [17] in the United Kingdom. The novel tells the story of Abby Graven, a young woman in rural Michigan who becomes obsessed with her former high school friend, Elise VanDijk, who is now a Hollywood starlet living in Malibu, California. The book was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize [18] and was reviewed by publications such as The New York Times, [19] Time , [20] The Irish Times, [21] O Magazine , [22] and Elle . [23] Stephanie Zacharek wrote of the book in Time: "Acampora's prose has a seductive, pearlescent allure, even when she's addressing doomed friendships, friends who can never live up to our expectations, friends who betray." [24] In The New York Times, Vanessa Friedman wrote: "Take 'The Talented Mr. Ripley,' cross it with 'Suspiria,' add a dash of 'La La Land' and mix it all at midnight and this arty psychological stalker novel is what might result." [25]

Grove Atlantic published Acampora's third book, The Hundred Waters, in 2022. [26] The novel centers on Louisa Rader, a former model and photographer in New York City. Having returned to her well-heeled hometown of Nearwater, Connecticut to raise a family, she becomes embroiled with the aristocratic Steigers and their troubled teenaged son, Gabriel, an artist and environmental activist. The novel was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Vogue . [27] In a starred review in Booklist, Stephanie Turza wrote, "In this tightly paced novel that echoes Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere , Tom Perrotta's Mrs. Fletcher , and A. Natasha Joukovsky's The Portrait of a Mirror, Acampora sets the idealism of youth against middle-age complacency and high-society reservations." [28]

Acampora's short fiction has appeared in publications including The Paris Review , [29] Guernica , [30] New England Review , [31] [32] The Missouri Review , [33] Prairie Schooner , [34] and The Antioch Review. [35] Her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times Book Review , [36] Literary Hub , [37] [38] [39] and NER Digital. [40]

Awards and recognition

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Chabon</span> American author and Pulitzer Prize winner

Michael Chabon is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1984. He subsequently received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine.

The PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway family and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/Society. It is administered by PEN America. Mary Welsh Hemingway, a member of PEN, founded the award in 1976 both to honor the memory of her husband and to recognize distinguished first books of fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Patchett</span> American novelist and memoirist (born 1963)

Ann Patchett is an American author. She received the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars (1992), Taft (1994), The Magician's Assistant (1997), Run (2007), State of Wonder (2011), Commonwealth (2016), The Dutch House (2019), and Tom Lake (2023). The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lan Samantha Chang</span> American fiction writer

Lan Samantha Chang is an American novelist and short story writer. She is the author of The Family Chao (2022) and short story collection Hunger. For her fiction, which explores Chinese American experiences, she is a recipient of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Berlin Prize, the PEN/Open Book Award and the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award.

K. L. Cook is an American writer from Texas. He is the author of Last Call (2004), a collection of linked stories spanning thirty-two years in the life of a West Texas family, the novel, The Girl From Charnelle (2006), and the short story collection, Love Songs for the Quarantined (2011). His most recent books are a collection of short stories, Marrying Kind (2019), a collection of poetry, Lost Soliloquies (2019), and The Art of Disobedience: Essays on Form, Fiction, and Influence (2020). He co-directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing & Environment at Iowa State University and teaches in the low-residency MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Cheuse</span> Novelist, short story writer, critic

Alan Stuart Cheuse was an American writer, editor, professor of literature, and radio commentator. A longtime NPR book commentator, he was also the author of five novels, five collections of short stories and novellas, a memoir and a collection of travel essays. In addition, Cheuse was a regular contributor to All Things Considered. His short fiction appeared in respected publications like The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, among other places. He taught in the Writing Program at George Mason University and the Community of Writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Barolini</span> American writer, editor, and translator (1925–2023)

Helen Frances Barolini was an American writer, editor, and translator. As a second-generation Italian American, Barolini often wrote on issues of Italian-American identity. Among her notable works are Umbertina (1979), a novel which tells the story of four generations of women in one Italian-American family; and an anthology, The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women (1985), which called attention to an emerging, and previously unnoticed, class of writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Groff</span> American writer

Lauren Groff is an American novelist and short story writer. She has written five novels and two short story collections, including Fates and Furies (2015), Florida (2018), Matrix (2022), and The Vaster Wilds (2023).

Enid Shomer is an American poet and fiction writer. She is the author of five poetry collections, two short story collections and a novel. Her poems have appeared in literary journals and magazines including The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Paris Review, The New Criterion, Parnassus, Kenyon Review, Tikkun, and in anthologies including The Best American Poetry. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, New Stories from the South, the Year's Best, Modern Maturity, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, and Virginia Quarterly Review. Her stories, poems, and essays have been included in more than fifty anthologies and textbooks, including Poetry: A HarperCollins Pocket Anthology. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in The New Times Book Review, The Women's Review of Books, and elsewhere. Two of her books, Stars at Noon and Imaginary Men, were the subjects of feature interviews on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Her writing is often set in or influenced by life in the State of Florida. Shomer was Poetry Series Editor for the University of Arkansas Press from 2002 to 2015, and has taught at many universities, including the University of Arkansas, Florida State University, and the Ohio State University, where she was the Thurber House Writer-in-Residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuala Ní Chonchúir</span> Irish writer and poet (born 1970)

Nuala Ní Chonchúir is an Irish writer and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivka Galchen</span> Canadian-American writer (born 1976)

Rivka Galchen is a Canadian-American writer. Her first novel, Atmospheric Disturbances, was published in 2008 and was awarded the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. She is the author of five books and a contributor of journalism and essays to The New Yorker magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Vaz</span> American writer (born 1955)

Katherine Vaz is a Portuguese-American writer. A Briggs-Copeland Fellow in Fiction at Harvard University (2003–2009), a 2006–2007 Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Fall, 2012 Harman Fellow at Baruch College in New York, she is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Above the Salt, which was chosen as one of People Magazine's Best New Books to Read in November, 2023.

Sherrie Flick is an American fiction writer whose work has appeared in Prairie Schooner, North American Review, Quarterly West, Puerto del Sol, Weave Magazine, Quick Fiction, Lit Hub, and other literary magazines. Flick is also a regular contributor to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which publishes her column "In a Writer's Urban Garden." In 2021, her work was performed by actress Marin Ireland for Symphony Space.

Janet Burroway is an American author. Burroway's published oeuvre includes eight novels, memoirs, short stories, poems, translations, plays, two children's books, and two how-to books about the craft of writing. Her novel The Buzzards was nominated for the 1970 Pulitzer Prize. Raw Silk is her most acclaimed novel thus far. While Burroway's literary fame is due to her novels, the book that has won her the widest readership is Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, first published in 1982. Now in its 10th edition, the book is used as a textbook in writing programs throughout the United States.

Greg Hrbek is an American fiction author and educator.

Daphne Kalotay is a novelist and short story writer who lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. She is known for her novels, Russian Winter and Sight Reading, and her collection of short stories, Calamity and Other Stories, which was short listed for the 2005 Story Prize. She is a graduate of Vassar College and holds an MA in creative writing and a PhD in literature from Boston University, where she has also taught. In addition, she has taught at Middlebury College and been a writer-in-residence at Skidmore College and Lynchburg College. From 2014 to 2016 she was the Visiting Writer in English at University of Massachusetts, Boston. She is a citizen of both the United States and Canada. She is currently a lecturer at Princeton University.

Goldie Goldbloom is an Australian Hasidic novelist, essayist and short story writer. She is an LGBT activist and a former board member of Eshel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Keeble (writer)</span> Canadian-American author (born 1944)

John Robert Keeble is a Canadian-American author. Primarily a novelist, he is best known for his novels Yellowfish (1980) and Broken Ground (1987). He has also written short stories and nonfiction. In 2019, he won an O. Henry Award for his short story, "Synchronicity", which was published in Harper's Magazine.

May-lee Chai is an American author of fiction and nonfiction. She is also currently a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University.

Elise Juska is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She is as a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

References

  1. ↑ Wolfe, Jim (April 29, 2015). "First-time author at Darien Library". Darien Times.
  2. ↑ https://complit.brown.edu/sites/default/files/2019%20Oct%2021%20Acampore%20and%20Frnklin%20POSTER%20Readings%2010.21.2019%20%20(9.17.2019).pdf
  3. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-acampora-b066b04/
  4. ↑ "Bio". Lauren Acampora.
  5. ↑ "The Wonder Garden".
  6. ↑ https://www.glca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/NWA_List_of_Winners_1970-2019-CMS.2.pdf
  7. ↑ Prize, The Story (January 30, 2016). "TSP: The Story Prize Long List for Collections Published in 2015".
  8. ↑ "Lauren Acampora and Lily King: Divining for Treasure". B&N Reads. May 12, 2015.
  9. ↑ Ohlin, Alix (June 3, 2015). "'The Wonder Garden,' by Lauren Acampora". The New York Times– via NYTimes.com.
  10. ↑ "'The Wonder Garden' by Lauren Acampora - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  11. ↑ "Short stories review: 'The Wonder Garden,' by Lauren Acampora". Dallas News. May 9, 2015.
  12. ↑ "The Wonder Garden by Lauren Acampora".
  13. ↑ "THE WONDER GARDEN | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  14. ↑ Lauren, Acampora. "The Wonder Garden". Library Journal.
  15. ↑ "'The Wonder Garden' by Lauren Acampora - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  16. ↑ "The Paper Wasp".
  17. ↑ Acampora, Lauren (January 22, 2019). The Paper Wasp. Quercus Editions Limited. ISBN   9781529401011 – via www.quercusbooks.co.uk.
  18. ↑ Krass, Jacqueline (July 25, 2019). "Center for Fiction Names 2019 First Novel Prize Longlist". The Millions.
  19. ↑ Times, The New York (May 23, 2019). "Summer Reading" – via NYTimes.com.
  20. ↑ "Female Friendships Are the Best, Until They Aren't". Time. June 20, 2019.
  21. ↑ "The Paper Wasp review: Obsessive female friendship turned sour". The Irish Times.
  22. ↑ "The Best Books by Women of Summer 2019". Oprah Daily. June 12, 2019.
  23. ↑ "The 30 Best Books to Read This Summer". ELLE. May 15, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Female Friendships Are the Best, Until They Aren't". Time. June 20, 2019.
  25. ↑ Times, The New York (May 23, 2019). "Summer Reading" – via NYTimes.com.
  26. ↑ "The Hundred Waters".
  27. ↑ "The Best Books of 2022 So Far". Vogue. December 20, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Hundred Waters, by By Lauren Acampora. | Booklist Online" – via www.booklistonline.com.
  29. ↑ "Lauren Acampora". The Paris Review.
  30. ↑ Acampora, Lauren (June 3, 2019). "The Paper Wasp". Guernica.
  31. ↑ "The Elephant God". New England Review. May 9, 2019.
  32. ↑ "Vol. 27, No. 3 (2006)". New England Review. October 3, 2011.
  33. ↑ Acampora, Lauren (December 13, 2012). "Swarm". The Missouri Review. 35 (3): 64–80. doi:10.1353/mis.2012.0080. S2CID   246236713 – via Project MUSE.
  34. ↑ Acampora, Lauren (December 13, 2013). "Felt Life". Prairie Schooner. 87 (1): 93–105. doi:10.1353/psg.2013.0031. S2CID   201768742 – via Project MUSE.
  35. ↑ https://ia601807.us.archive.org/26/items/sim_antioch-review_2005_63_index/sim_antioch-review_2005_63_index.pdf
  36. ↑ Acampora, Lauren (May 15, 2015). "'Housebreaking,' by Dan Pope". The New York Times– via NYTimes.com.
  37. ↑ "What, to the Writer, Are Dreams?". June 11, 2019.
  38. ↑ "I Really Didn't Want to Write This Promotional Essay Tied to My Book Release". August 23, 2022.
  39. ↑ "9 Novels of Art and Seduction". October 6, 2022.
  40. ↑ "Tree tenants". New England Review. August 2, 2012.
  41. ↑ "Introducing | 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Finalists, and Panelists". July 13, 2021.
  42. ↑ Krass, Jacqueline (July 25, 2019). "Center for Fiction Names 2019 First Novel Prize Longlist". The Millions.
  43. ↑ https://www.glca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/NWA_List_of_Winners_1970-2019-CMS.2.pdf
  44. ↑ "2013 Prairie Schooner Award Winners | Prairie Schooner". prairieschooner.unl.edu.
  45. ↑ "Lauren Acampora - Artist". MacDowell.
  46. ↑ "Ucross Foundation - Literature Alumni". UCROSS.
  47. ↑ "2006 – Art Omi". artomi.org.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.