Renata Adler facts for kids

Renata Adler (born October 19, 1937) is an American writer, journalist, and film critic. She worked for a long time at The New Yorker magazine. She was also the main film critic for The New York Times for a short period. Renata Adler has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction. She has won 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 were traveling from Germany to the United States. Her family had to leave Nazi Germany in 1933 and moved to the U.S. in 1939. She grew up in Danbury, Connecticut.

Renata Adler went to Bryn Mawr College and earned a degree in philosophy and German literature. She then studied at Harvard University and the Sorbonne. Later, she earned a law degree from Yale Law School. She also received an honorary law degree from Georgetown University.

Renata Adler's Career

Starting in Journalism

In 1962, Renata Adler began working as a writer for The New Yorker magazine. She also wrote book reviews for Harper's Bazaar using a different name. She traveled a lot for her reporting. In 1967, she went to Vietnam for McCall's Magazine. She also covered the Six-Day War and the Nigerian Civil War. She reported on important events in the U.S., like the Selma March for civil rights.

Film Critic Role

In 1968, Renata Adler became the main film critic for The New York Times. This was surprising because she wasn't part of the film industry. Her movie reviews were very thoughtful and literary. However, movie studios didn't always like them. She left The New York Times in 1969 and went back to The New Yorker. Her film reviews were later collected in her book, A Year in the Dark.

Writing and Reporting

Renata Adler continued to write for The New Yorker for four decades. She wrote about politics, wars, and civil rights. Her essays were collected in a book called Toward a Radical Middle. This book helped define a political idea called radical centrism.

In the early 1970s, she taught theater and film at Hunter College. In 1973, she helped write speeches for a committee looking into the possible removal of President Nixon from office. She later wrote a novel called Pitch Dark (1983).

In 1998, she wrote a long essay for Vanity Fair about the Starr Report. This report was part of an investigation into President Bill Clinton. Adler argued that the report showed the investigator, Ken Starr, might have misused his power.

In 2001, she shared her thoughts on journalism. She felt that The New York Times and The New Yorker used to care more about what was honorable. She believed this focus had changed over time. She also taught journalism and English literature at Boston University.

Awards and Recognition

Renata Adler has received many honors for her writing.

• In 1968, her essay "Letter from the Palmer House" was chosen as one of "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. It 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 great first novels.
• In 1987, she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
• She received honorary doctorates from Georgetown University in 1989 and Oberlin College in 2021.

Her essay "Letter from Selma" (1965) was included in a book called Reporting 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, she was a media fellow at Stanford University. In 2016, she was the Writer-in-Residence at the International Literature Festival at Utrecht University.

Personal Life

In the 1960s, Renata Adler was briefly engaged to Reuel Wilson. She adopted her son, Stephen, as a baby in 1986. As of 2013^[update], she lives in Newtown, Connecticut.

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

See also

In Spanish: Renata Adler para niños