Jane Smiley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jane Smiley
Smiley at the 2009 Texas Book Festival
Born	(1949-09-26) September 26, 1949 (age 75) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Vassar College (AB) University of Iowa (MA, MFA, PhD)
Awards	Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1992 American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2001

Jane Smiley (born September 26, 1949) is a famous American author. She is best known for her novel A Thousand Acres, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992. This is one of the most respected awards a writer can receive.

Early Life and Education

Jane Smiley was born in Los Angeles, California, but she grew up in a town near St. Louis. After high school, she went to Vassar College in New York to study literature.

Smiley loved learning and continued her studies at the University of Iowa. There, she earned several advanced degrees, including a PhD. She also spent a year in Iceland studying as a Fulbright Scholar, a special program for students to study in other countries.

A Career in Writing

From 1981 to 1996, Smiley was a professor of English at Iowa State University. She taught creative writing to college students. In 2015, she started teaching creative writing again at the University of California, Riverside.

Famous Books and Awards

Smiley's first novel, Barn Blind, was published in 1980. She soon gained attention for her work. In 1985, she won an O. Henry Award for one of her short stories.

Her most famous book is A Thousand Acres, published in 1991. The story is a modern version of William Shakespeare's famous play King Lear. The book was a huge success and won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1997, it was made into a movie.

Another one of her books, a shorter novel called The Age of Grief, was also turned into a movie. The film was called The Secret Lives of Dentists and came out in 2002.

Jane Smiley speaking at the Vancouver Writers Fest about her 2014 novel, Some Luck

Later Work and Recognition

In 2001, Smiley was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters, which is a great honor for an artist or writer. She has received many other awards, including the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 for her contributions to literature.

Another well-known author, Jonathan Franzen, has said that Smiley's novel The Greenlanders is one of the best books in modern American writing.

Starting in 2014, Smiley released a series of three books called a trilogy. The books, Some Luck, Early Warning, and Golden Age, tell the story of a family from Iowa over many years.

Books by Jane Smiley

Jane Smiley has written many books for adults, young adults, and even children. Here are some of her works.

Novels for Adults

• Barn Blind (1980)
• At Paradise Gate (1981)
• Duplicate Keys (1984)
• The Greenlanders (1988)
• A Thousand Acres (1991)
• Moo (1995)
• The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton (1998)
• Horse Heaven (2000)
• Good Faith (2003)
• Ten Days in the Hills (2007)
• Private Life (2010)
• Some Luck (2014)
• Early Warning (2015)
• Golden Age (2015)
• Perestroika in Paris (2020)
• A Dangerous Business (2022)
• Lucky (2024)

Books for Young Adults

• The Georges and the Jewels (2009)
• A Good Horse (2010)
• True Blue (2011)
• Pie in the Sky (2012)
• Gee Whiz (2013)
• Riding Lessons (2018)
• Saddles and Secrets (2019)
• Taking the Reins (2020)

Non-fiction Books

• A Year at the Races: Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Luck (2004)
• Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel (2005)
• The Man Who Invented the Computer (2010)

See also

In Spanish: Jane Smiley para niños