Kim Edwards
Kim Edwards | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 4, 1958 Killeen, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
| Alma mater | Colgate University Iowa Writers' Workshop |
| Notable works | The Memory Keeper's Daughter |
| Website | |
| kimedwardsbooks | |
Kim Edwards (born May 4, 1958) is an American author and educator. She is the author of a story collection, The Secrets of a Fire King, and her first novel, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, won several awards and became a bestseller.
Early life and education
[edit]Kim Edwards was born on May 4, 1958[1] in Killeen, Texas. When she was two months old, her family moved to upstate New York, where she was raised.[2]
Edwards began college at Cayuga Community College. She transferred to Colgate University in 1979, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1981. In 1983, Edwards received a master's degree from the university of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Edwards earned a second Master of Arts degree in linguistics, also from the University of Iowa, in 1987.[1]
Career
[edit]Edwards wrote the short story collection, The Secrets of a Fire King (1997), which was an alternate for the 1998 PEN/Hemingway Award, and has won both a Whiting Award[3] and the Nelson Algren Award.[4]
Edwards' 2005 novel, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, was named the 2006 Book of the Year by USA Today.[5] Her most recent novel, The Lake of Dreams, New York Times Best Seller,[6] was published in January 2011.[7][8]
Her second novel, The Lake of Dreams, an Independent Booksellers pick, was also an international best seller.[citation needed]
As of 2010, Edwards was teaching writing at the University of Kentucky.[9]
Recognition and awards
[edit] |
The Secrets of a Fire King, which was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award; her stories have been published in The Paris Review, Story, Ploughshares, Zoetrope, and many other periodicals. She has received many awards for the short story as well, including a Pushcart Prize, the National Magazine Award, the Nelson Algren Award, and inclusion in both The Best American Short Stories and the Symphony Space program 'Selected Shorts'.[citation needed]
She is the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award, as well as grants from the Pennsylvania and Kentucky Arts Councils, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and the National Endowment for the Arts.[citation needed]
The Memory Keeper's Daughter, her first novel, was a Barnes and Noble Discover Award pick and became a word-of-mouth best-seller, spending 122 consecutive weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, 20 of those weeks at #1. The Memory Keeper's Daughter won the Kentucky Literary Award and the British Book Award, and was chosen as Book of the Year for 2006 by USA Today.
Personal life
[edit]Edwards married Thomas Clayton in 1987, and they have two daughters together.[1]
Works
[edit]Books
[edit]- The Secrets of a Fire King. WW Norton. 1997. ISBN 978-0-39304-026-5.
- "The Great Chain of Being," Originally Published in The Paris Review, Issue 120, Fall 1991
- The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Viking Adult. 2005. ISBN 978-0-67003-416-1.
9780670034161.
- The Lake of Dreams. Viking. 2011. ISBN 978-0-67002-217-5.
Short stories
[edit]- "Paradise". Ploughshares. Emerson College. Fall 1990.
- "Aristotle's Lantern". Zoetrope: All-Story. 6 (1). Spring 2002. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- "In the Garden". Ploughshares. Emerson College. Fall 2003.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "The Way It Felt to Be Falling: Author Biography". eNotes. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
- ↑ "Lexington author Kim Edwards begins a tour for 'The Lake of Dreams'". Herald-Leader. January 4, 2011. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
- ↑ Whiting Writers Awards Archived 2010-01-05 at the Wayback Machine retrieved May 4, 2010
- ↑ Good Reads Kim Edwards retrieved May 4, 2010
- ↑ "Memory Keeper' is top read of 2006". USA Today. December 21, 2006. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
- ↑ "Best Sellers". The New York Times. January 23, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
- ↑ Pierleoni, Allen (January 12, 2011). "Best-selling author Kim Edwards dreamed of success". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
- ↑ Memmott, Carol (January 6, 2011). "Author Kim Edwards goes from 'Memory' to 'Dreams'". USA Today. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
- ↑ Penguin Speaker Bureau Kim Edwards retrieved May 4, 2010
