Helen DeWitt

Helen DeWitt (born 1957 in Takoma Park, Maryland) is an American novelist. She is the author of the novels The Last Samurai (2000) and Lightning Rods (2012) and the short story collection Some Trick (2018), and in collaboration with the Australian journalist Ilya Gridneff has written Your Name Here (published in 2008). She lives in Berlin.[1]

Helen DeWitt
Helen DeWitt
Born1957
Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.
OccupationWriter
NationalityAmerican
Period2000–present
GenreNovel
Notable worksThe Last Samurai
Lightning Rods
Some Trick
Website
helendewitt.com

Life

DeWitt grew up primarily in Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador[2]), as her parents worked in the United States diplomatic service. After a year at Northfield Mount Hermon School and two short periods at Smith College, DeWitt studied classics at the University of Oxford, first at Lady Margaret Hall, and then at Brasenose College for her D.Phil., where her thesis examined the concept of propriety in ancient literary criticism.[3] Afterwards she became a Junior Research Fellow at Somerville College.

Work

DeWitt is best known for her debut novel, The Last Samurai. She held a variety of jobs while struggling to finish a book, including dictionary text tagger, copytaker, Dunkin' Donuts employee, legal secretary, and working at a laundry service. During this time she reportedly attempted to finish many novels, before finally completing The Last Samurai, her 50th manuscript, in 1998.[2][4] In 2005 she collaborated with Ingrid Kerma, the London-based painter, writing "limit5" for the exhibition "Blushing Brides".

In 2012, DeWitt published her second novel, Lightning Rods, with independent High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, publisher And Other Stories[5] to high acclaim.[6]

An excerpt from an in-progress novel set in Flin Flon, Manitoba, has been published by Open Book: Ontario at the end of an article about the novel and DeWitt's difficulties in finding a publisher.[7]

Her short story "Climbers", which explores artistic ideals and commercial realities of the writing life, was published in Harper's magazine November 2014.[8]

Some Trick was shortlisted for the 2019 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.[9]

Bibliography

Novels
  • The Last Samurai (New York: Hyperion, 2000; ISBN 0-7868-6668-3)
  • Lightning Rods (High Wycombe: And Other Stories, 2012; ISBN 978-1-908276-11-7)

Short stories
  • Some Trick: Thirteen Stories, (New York: New Directions, 2018; ISBN 978-0811227827

References
  1. And Other Stories, Helen DeWitt Retrieved 23 January 2013
  2. Macgowan, James (2000-10-15). "After 50 attempts, Helen DeWitt's brainy prose gets brawny cash advances". The Ottawa Citizen. CanWest Interactive.
  3. DeWitt, Helen (1987). Quo virtus? The Concept of Propriety in Ancient Literary Criticism (D.Phil.). University of Oxford. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  4. The Paris Review. "Helen DeWitt: My First Time". The Paris Review. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  5. Carter, Helen (10 October 2012). "Independents' day? Small presses make up 50% of Booker shortlist" The Guardian. Accessed 2 May 2013.
  6. http://www.andotherstories.org/book/lightning-rods/ Retrieved 23 January 2013
  7. "Helen DeWitt on Writing, Flin Flon and the Canadian Personality".
  8. harper's magazine vol.329 No. 1974
  9. "Announcing the 2019 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
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