Renata Adler facts for kids

Renata Adler (born October 19, 1937) is an American writer, journalist, and film critic. She worked as a writer and reporter for The New Yorker magazine for over thirty years. She was also the main film critic for The New York Times from 1968 to 1969. Renata Adler has written several books, both fiction and non-fiction. She has received important awards like the O. Henry Prize and the PEN/Hemingway Award.

Early Life and Education

Renata Adler was born in Milan, Italy, on October 19, 1937. Her parents, Frederick L. and Erna Adler, were traveling from Germany at the time. Her family left Nazi Germany in 1933 and moved to the United States in 1939.

Adler grew up in Danbury, Connecticut. She went to Bryn Mawr College, where she studied philosophy and German literature. She graduated with top honors in 1959. She continued her studies in philosophy and languages at the Sorbonne in France. In 1961, she earned another degree. She also studied at Harvard University, getting her Master's degree in 1962. Later, in 1979, she earned a law degree from Yale Law School.

Career Highlights

Journalism and Reporting

In 1962, Renata Adler started working as a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. She also briefly reviewed books for Harper's Bazaar using a different name.

Adler traveled to Vietnam in 1967 to report for McCall's Magazine. While abroad, she also covered the Six-Day War for The New Yorker. She reported on other important events, like the Nigerian Civil War and the Selma March for civil rights.

In 1968, she became the film critic for The New York Times. Her movie reviews were unique and sometimes hard for film studios to understand. She found the deadlines at the Times challenging. In February 1969, she returned to The New Yorker, where she continued to work for four decades.

Her movie reviews were later collected in her book, A Year in the Dark. Her reports and essays for The New Yorker about politics, war, and civil rights were published in another book, Toward a Radical Middle.

Writing and Books

In the early 1970s, Adler taught theater and film at Hunter College. In 1973, she helped write speeches for Peter Rodino, who was leading an investigation into President Nixon. This experience later inspired her novel Pitch Dark (1983).

In 1980, Adler wrote a long review of a book by her New Yorker colleague, Pauline Kael. Adler's review was very critical of Kael's writing style. This review caused a lot of discussion in the literary world.

In 1998, Adler wrote an important essay for Vanity Fair magazine. It was about the Starr Report, which investigated President Bill Clinton. Adler argued that the report showed the investigator, Ken Starr, had misused his power.

Reflecting on her journalism career in 2001, Adler noted that The New York Times and The New Yorker once had strong ideas about what was honorable in reporting. She felt this focus had changed over time.

Adler also taught journalism and English literature at Boston University for three years.

Awards and Recognition

Renata Adler has received many honors for her writing.

• In 1968, her essay "Letter from the Palmer House" was chosen for The Best Magazine Articles of 1967.
• In 1973, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for her non-fiction writing.
• In 1975, her short story "Brownstone" won first prize in the O. Henry Awards. This story was also included in a collection of the best short stories of the 1970s.
• In 1977, her novel Speedboat won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. This award recognizes excellent first novels.
• In 1987, she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
• In 1989, she received an honorary doctorate from Georgetown University School of Law.
• In 2021, she received another honorary doctorate from Oberlin College.

Her essay "Letter from Selma," first published in 1965, was included in a collection of important American journalism about civil rights. An essay she wrote as a film critic about the movie In Cold Blood was also included in a collection of American movie critics' writings. In 2004, Adler was a media fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

In 2016, Renata Adler was chosen as the Writer-in-Residence for the International Literature Festival at Utrecht University.

Personal Life

In the 1960s, Renata Adler was briefly engaged to Reuel Wilson. In 1986, she adopted her son, Stephen, as an infant. As of 2013, she lives in Newtown, Connecticut.

The actress Diane Keaton mentioned in her memoir that her character Renata in the 1978 Woody Allen movie Interiors was inspired by Renata Adler.

See also

In Spanish: Renata Adler para niños