Michael Cunningham Last updated October 11, 2025 Early life and education Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio , and grew up in La Cañada Flintridge, California . [ 5] [ 6] He studied English literature at Stanford University , where he earned his degree. Later, at the University of Iowa , he received a Michener Fellowship and was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop . While studying at Iowa, he had short stories published in the Atlantic Monthly and The Paris Review . His short story "White Angel" was later used as a chapter in his novel A Home at the End of the World . It was included in "The Best American Short Stories, 1989", published by Houghton Mifflin.
In 1988, Cunningham received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship [ 7] and in 1993 a Guggenheim Fellowship . [ 8] In 1995 he was awarded a Whiting Award . [ 9] Cunningham has taught at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts , and in the creative writing M.F.A. program at Brooklyn College .
Career The Hours established Cunningham as a major force in the American writing sphere, and his 2010 novel, By Nightfall , was also well received by U.S. critics. [ 10] Cunningham edited a book of poetry and prose by Walt Whitman , [ 11] Laws for Creations , and co-wrote, with Susan Minot , a screenplay adapted from Minot's novel Evening . He was a producer for the 2007 film Evening , starring Glenn Close , Toni Collette , and Meryl Streep .
In November 2010, Cunningham judged one of NPR 's "Three Minute Fiction" contests. [ 12]
In April 2018, it was announced that Cunningham would serve as consulting producer for a revival of the Tales of the City miniseries, which is based on Armistead Maupin's book series of the same name . [ 13] The miniseries premiered on June 7, 2019.
Personal life Although Cunningham is gay, and married to psychoanalyst Ken Corbett, [ 14] he dislikes being referred to as a gay writer , according to a PlanetOut article. [ 15] While he often writes about gay people, he does not "want the gay aspects of [his] books to be perceived as their single, primary characteristic." [ 16] Cunningham lives in Brooklyn , New York and works in Manhattan . [ 17]
Bibliography Cunningham reading at a W. H. Auden tribute in New York, 2007 Short stories Collections:
A Wild Swan and Other Tales (2015), Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 978-0374290252 "Dis. Enchant.", "A Wild Swan", "Crazy Old Lady", "Jacked", "Poisoned", "A Monkey's Paw", "Little Man", "Steadfast; Tin", "Beasts", "Her Hair", "Ever/After" Uncollected short stories:
Non-fiction "The Slap of Love" . Open City . 6 . 1996. Land's End: A Walk in Provincetown (2002), travelsCompany (2008), an essay on the influence of Virginia Woolf on Cunningham's writingAbout Time: Fashion and Duration (2020), with Andrew Bolton, coutureAdaptations The Hours (2002), film directed by Stephen Daldry , based on novel The Hours The Hours (2022), opera with music by Kevin Puts and libretto by Greg Pierce, based on the novel and the film A Home at the End of the World (2004), film directed by Michael Mayer , based on novel A Home at the End of the World The Destruction Artist (2012), short film directed by Michael Sharpe, based on short story "The Destruction Artist"The Hours: A Live Tribute (2016), short film directed by Tim McNeill, based on novel The Hours References ↑ "Meet the Writers: Michael Cunningham" . barnesandnoble.com . Barnes & Noble . c. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-06-26 . ↑ "The Hours , by Michael Cunningham (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)" . www.pulitzer.org . Retrieved 2023-12-11 . ↑ "Past Award Winners & Finalists | The PEN/Faulkner Foundation" . www.penfaulkner.org . Retrieved 2023-12-11 . ↑ "Michael Cunningham | English" . english.yale.edu . Retrieved 2023-12-11 . ↑ "Michael Cunningham" . SBA The Steven Barclay Agency. Archived from the original on 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2023-10-03 . ↑ Felicelli, Anita (September 13, 2022). "The Moment: Introducing the Special Guest in Conversation with Julie Otsuka" . Alta . Archived from the original on 2022-09-13. ↑ "Literature Fellowships" . www.arts.gov . Retrieved 2023-12-11 . ↑ "Michael Cunningham" . John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.. . Retrieved 2023-12-11 . ↑ "Michael Cunningham" . www.whiting.org . Retrieved 2023-12-11 . ↑ metacritic entry on "Specimen Days" [ dead link ] ↑ "For Every Atom Belonging to Me: Poet Michael Cunningham", Radio Netherlands Archives, October 7, 2006 ↑ "Three-Minute Fiction: The Winner Is ..." NPR.org . 14 November 2010. ↑ Petski, Denise (April 24, 2018). "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City Revival Gets Series Order At Netflix; Ellen Page Joins Cast" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved June 12, 2019 . ↑ Leland, John (October 24, 2002). "At Home With: Michael Cunningham; This Is the House The Book Bought" . The New York Times . Retrieved September 7, 2013 . ↑ PlanetOut Entertainment Archived August 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine ↑ Moore, Chadwick (September 30, 2010). "Catching Up with Michael Cunningham" . Out . Retrieved September 7, 2013 . ↑ Alter, Alexandra (September 13, 2023). "Michael Cunningham Couldn't Help but Write a Pandemic Novel" . The New York Times . Retrieved December 11, 2023 . ↑ "Charles Lane Press | Books" . ↑ "Le menzogne di Cunningham e la musica di Servillo - la Repubblica.it" . July 2011. ↑ "Michael Cunningham, Day" . Rai Cultura (in Italian). Retrieved October 13, 2024 . External links
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