Joan Acocella (née Ross, born 1945) is an American journalist who is a staff writer for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. She has written books on dance, literature, and psychology.

Education and career

Acocella received her B.A. in English in 1966 from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

. She earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in 1984 with a thesis on the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. ...

. Acocella has written for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'', has served as a senior critic and the reviews editor for ''

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' has multiple sister publications, including '' Point ...

,'' and was the New York dance critic for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''. Her writing also appears regularly in the ''

New York Review of Books New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

''. She began writing for ''

'' in 1992 and served as its dance critic from 1998 to 2019. Her books include ''Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder'' (1999); ''Mark Morris'' (1993), a biography of modern dancer and choreographer Mark Morris; and ''Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints'' (2007), which explores the virtues common among extraordinary artists. She also edited ''The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky: Unexpurgated Edition'' (1999), ''André Levinson on Dance'' (1991), and ''Mission to Siam: The Memoirs of Jessie MacKinnon Hartzell'' (2001), her grandmother. Acocella's ''New Yorker'' article "Cather and the Academy," which appeared in the November 27, 1995 issue, received a Front Page Award from the Newswomen's Club of New York and was included in the “Best American Essays” anthology of 1996. She expanded the essay into '' Willa Cather and the Politics of Criticism'' (2000). A 2012 review by Acocella of

Henry Hitchings Henry Hitchings (born 11 December 1974) is an author, reviewer and critic, specializing in narrative non-fiction, with a particular emphasis on language and cultural history. The second of his books, ''The Secret Life of Words: How English Beca ...

's ''The Language Wars'' drew criticism from Jan Freeman and

Mark Liberman Mark Yoffe Liberman is an American linguist. He has a dual appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, as Trustee Professor of Phonetics in the Department of Linguistics, and as a professor in the Department of Computer and Information Scienc ...

. John McIntyre of ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' wrote about the episode in an opinion column.

Bibliography

* * * * * *

Awards and honors

*2017 – Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters *2017 – Fellow, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers *2012 – Holtzbrinck Berlin Prize Fellow,

American Academy in Berlin The American Academy in Berlin is a private, independent, nonpartisan research and cultural institution in Berlin dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the long-term intellectual, cultural, and political ties between the United States and Germany ...

. *2009 –

Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing The Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, established in 1991, is an annual literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) wit ...

, the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

*2007 – Award in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters *2002–present – Fellow, New York Institute for the Humanities *1993–1994 – Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acocella, Joan 1945 births Living people American dance critics Dance in New York City The New Yorker critics American women journalists American women critics The Village Voice people 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women writers Tisch School of the Arts alumni