Jennifer Egan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jennifer Egan
|
|
|---|---|
Egan in 2017
|
|
| Born | September 7, 1962 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Education | |
| Genre | |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards |
|
| Spouse |
David Herskovits
(m. 1994) |
| Children | 2 |
Jennifer Egan was born on September 7, 1962. She is an American writer who creates novels and short stories. Her book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, won two major awards in 2011: the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award. From 2018 to 2020, she was the president of PEN America, an organization that supports writers and free expression.
Early Life and Education
Jennifer Egan grew up and went to school in California. After finishing high school, she studied English literature at the University of Pennsylvania. While in college, she even dated Steve Jobs, who helped her get a Macintosh computer.
After college, she received a special scholarship called the Thouron Award. This allowed her to study for two years at St John's College, Cambridge in England, where she earned a master's degree. In 1987, she moved to New York City. She worked many different jobs, like catering at the World Trade Center, while she learned how to become a writer.
Writing Career
Jennifer Egan has written many short stories for famous magazines like New Yorker and Harper's. She has also written articles for the New York Times Magazine.
Her first novel, The Invisible Circus, came out in 1995. It was later made into a movie in 2001. She has published one collection of short stories and six novels. Her novel Look at Me was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001.
Egan's book A Visit from the Goon Squad is very unique. It's hard to say if it's a novel or a collection of short stories. She wanted each part of the book to be very different. One chapter is even written like a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation! She said that music helped her write the book because it makes her think about time in different ways.
Awards and Recognition
Jennifer Egan has won many awards for her writing. In 1986, she received the Thouron Award. She also got fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996. These awards help writers focus on their work.
In 2002, she wrote an important article about children who were homeless. This article won the Carroll Kowal Journalism Award. She also spent time as a scholar at the New York Public Library from 2004 to 2005. In 2008, her story about children with bipolar disorder won an award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
In 2011, she was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. That same year was a big one for her. She won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad.
In 2018, Egan won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for her novel Manhattan Beach. This book was also considered for the National Book Award in 2017.
Personal Life
Jennifer Egan lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, New York. She lives there with her husband and their two sons.
See also
In Spanish: Jennifer Egan para niños
