Marilynne Robinson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marilynne Robinson
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Robinson in 2012
|
|
| Born | Marilynne Summers November 26, 1943 Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S. |
| Occupation |
|
| Education | |
| Notable awards |
|
| Spouse |
Fred Robinson
(m. 1967; div. 1989) |
| Children | 2 |
Marilynne Summers Robinson (born November 26, 1943) is a famous American writer. She writes both novels and essays. She has won many important awards for her books. These include the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005. She also received the National Humanities Medal in 2012. In 2016, she won the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.
Time magazine even named her one of the 100 most influential people in 2016. Marilynne Robinson taught writing at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. This is a very famous writing program. She taught there from 1991 until she retired in 2016.
Robinson is especially known for her novels Housekeeping (1980) and Gilead (2004). Her novels often explore themes of faith and life in the countryside. Her essays cover many different topics. These include the connection between religion and science. She also writes about US history and politics.
Contents
Early Life and School
Marilynne Summers was born on November 26, 1943. She grew up in Sandpoint, Idaho. Her father, John J. Summers, worked for a lumber company. Her mother was Ellen (Harris) Summers. Marilynne has a brother named David Summers. He is an art historian.
She went to Pembroke College at Brown University. This was a women's college at the time. She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts, in 1966. She then went on to get her PhD in English. She received this advanced degree from the University of Washington in 1977.
Writing Books and Essays
Marilynne Robinson has written five highly praised novels. Her first novel, Housekeeping, came out in 1980. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her novel Gilead (2004) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.
She also wrote Home (2008) and Lila (2014). These two books are connected to Gilead. They tell stories about the same families during the same time. Her most recent novel, Jack, was published in 2020.
Besides novels, Robinson has written many nonfiction books. These include Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State, and Nuclear Pollution (1989). She also wrote essay collections like The Death of Adam (1998) and When I Was a Child I Read Books (2012). Her books have been translated into 36 different languages. She has also written many articles and essays for well-known magazines. These include Harper's and The New York Review of Books.
Teaching and Other Roles
From 1991 to 2016, Marilynne Robinson taught at the University of Iowa. She was a professor of English and Creative Writing there. She also taught as a visiting professor at other colleges. These include Amherst College.
In 2010, she was chosen as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This is a group that honors important thinkers. In 2018, she was chosen to give special lectures on Christian theology at Cambridge University. She was only the fourth woman to be chosen for this series.
Awards and Recognitions
Marilynne Robinson has received many awards for her writing and ideas. Some of her major awards include:
- 2004: National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for Gilead
- 2005: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Gilead
- 2009: Orange Prize for Fiction for Home
- 2012: National Humanities Medal
- 2013: Park Kyong-ni Prize
- 2016: Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
She has also received honorary degrees from many universities. These include Oxford University, Brown University, and Yale University.
Praise for Her Work
Many important people have praised Marilynne Robinson's writing. Rowan Williams, a former Archbishop, called her "one of the world's most compelling English-speaking novelists." He said her voice is "urgently needed."
In 2015, President Barack Obama quoted Marilynne Robinson in a speech. He was talking about having "an open heart." He said she described it as "that reservoir of goodness... that we are able to do each other in the ordinary cause of things." President Obama and Robinson even had a public conversation. They talked about American history and the role of faith in society.
Her Personal Life
Marilynne Robinson was raised as a Presbyterian. Later, she became a Congregationalist. She attends and sometimes preaches at a church in Iowa City. Her faith and interest in the ideas of John Calvin are important in her novels. For example, Gilead is about a fictional Congregationalist minister. Robinson believes that if people actually read Calvin, they would see him as a "very respectable thinker."
In 1967, she married Fred Miller Robinson. He was also a writer and a professor. They divorced in 1989. They have two sons together. Robinson wrote her first novel, Housekeeping, in the evenings while her sons slept. She said that being a mother changed her view of life and herself.
Robinson now splits her time between northern California and upstate New York.
Images for kids
-
A friendly robot
