Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is an American writer and university professor. For her 1998 novel ''Charming Billy'' she won an

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

and the U.S.

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

. McDermott is

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

's Richard A. Macksey Professor of the Humanities.

Life

McDermott was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She attended St. Boniface School in

Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the 2 ...

, on Long Island (1967), Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead (1971), and the

State University of New York at Oswego State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego or Oswego State) is a public college in the City of Oswego and Town of Oswego, New York. It has two campuses: historic lakeside campus in Oswego and Metro Center in Syracuse, New York. SU ...

, receiving her BA in 1975, and received her MA from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College ...

in 1978. She has taught at

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

and

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...

, has been a writer-in-residence at

Lynchburg College The University of Lynchburg, formerly Lynchburg College, is a private university associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and located in Lynchburg, Virginia. It has approximately 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students. T ...

and

Hollins College Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, and was lecturer in English at the University of New Hampshire. Ms. McDermott is currently the Richard A. Macksey Professor of the Humanities at

. Her short stories have appeared in ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'', ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publication as of January 2019 and now operates an article-comprise ...

'', '' Mademoiselle'', ''

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 ...

'' and '' Seventeen''. She has also published articles in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. Ms. McDermott lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband, a neuroscientist, and three children. She is Catholic, though she once deemed herself "not a very good Catholic."

Awards and honors

* '' That Night'' (1987) — finalist for the National Book Award,"National Book Awards – 1987"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-27. the

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...

, and the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

* ''

At Weddings and Wakes AT or at may refer to: Geography Austria * Austria (ISO 2-letter country code) * .at, Internet country code top-level domain United States * Atchison County, Kansas (county code) * The Appalachian Trail (A.T.), a 2,180+ mile long mountaino ...

'' (1992) — finalist for the Pulitzer Prize * '' Charming Billy'' (1998) — winner of an

(1999) and the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

"National Book Awards – 1998"

. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
(With essays by Alice Elliott Dark and Katie McDonough from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) * '' Child of My Heart : A Novel'' (2002) — nominated for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

* '' After This'' (2006) — finalist for the Pulitzer Prize"Fiction"
''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2012-03-27. * ''

Someone Someone may refer to: Literature * ''Someone'' (Edwards novel), a 2014 novel by A.M. Edwards * ''Someone'' (McDermott novel), a 2013 novel by Alice McDermott Songs * "Someone" (Lee Greenwood song), 1987 * "Someone" (The Rembrandts song), 19 ...

''(2013) - longlisted for the 2013

Fiction *1987

Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and ...

* In 2010 she received the Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature award which is given annually in Rockville Maryland, the city where Fitzgerald, his wife, and his daughter are buried as part of th
F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival
*2013 Inducted into the

New York Writers Hall of Fame The New York State Writers Hall of Fame or NYS Writers Hall of Fame is a project established in 2010 by the Empire State Center for the Book, which is the New York State affiliate of the U.S. Library of Congress's Center for the Book, and the Em ...

. *2014

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Dayton Literary Peace Prize The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is an annual United States literary award "recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace" that was first awarded in 2006. Awards are given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published at some point ...

. *2018

Prix Femina étranger The Prix Femina étranger is a French literary award established in 1985. It is awarded annually to a foreign-language literary work translated into French. List of laureates See also * Prix Femina * Prix Femina essai References

{{DE ...

for ''La Neuvième Heure'', translation of ''The Ninth Hour''

Bibliography

Novels

* * ; reprint 21 February 2005 * ; reprint 24 November 2009 * ; reprint 24 November 2009 * ''Child of My Heart'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002; 2013, * ; reprint 25 September 2007 * * ''The Ninth Hour: A Novel''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 19 September 2017. .

Essays

*''What About the Baby?'' Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 17 August 2021. .

Notes

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...