Amy Beth Bloom (born 1953) is an American writer and

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

. She is professor of creative writing at Wesleyan University, and has been nominated for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) 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. ...

and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Biography

Bloom is the daughter of Murray Teigh Bloom (1916–2009), an author, and Sydelle J. Cohen, a psychotherapist. Bloom received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater/Political Science,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, and a M.S.W. (Master of Social Work) from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

. Trained as a social worker, she has practiced psychotherapy. Currently, Bloom is the Kim-Frank Family University Writer in Residence at

(effective July 1, 2010). Previously, she was a senior lecturer of creative writing in the department of English at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where she taught Advanced Fiction Writing, Writing for Television, and Writing for Children. Bloom has written articles in periodicals including ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', '' The New York Times Magazine'', the ''Atlantic Monthly'', '' Vogue'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'', and '' Salon.com''. Her short fiction has appeared in '' The Best American Short Stories'', The O. Henry Prize Stories and several other anthologies, and has won a National Magazine Award. In 1993, Bloom was nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction for ''Come to Me: Stories'' and in 2000 was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for ''A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You''. Having undergone training as a clinical social worker at the Smith College School for Social Work, Bloom used her understanding of psychotherapy in creating the 2007 Lifetime Television network TV show, '' State of Mind'', which looked at the professional lives of psychotherapists. She is listed as creator, co-executive producer, and head writer for the series. In August 2012, Bloom published her first children's book, entitled ''Little Sweet Potato'' (HarperCollins). According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', the story "follows the trials of a 'lumpy, dumpy, bumpy' young tuber who is accidentally expelled from his garden patch and must find a new home. On his journey, he is castigated first by a bunch of xenophobic carrots, then by a menacing gang of vain eggplants."

Personal life

Bloom currently resides in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Though sometimes referred to as a cousin of literary critic

Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". Af ...

, she says their "cousinhood is entirely artificial and volitional". She has been married to two men, with a relationship with a woman in between. She has three children with her first husband, James Donald Moon. Her sister, Ellen Bloom, is married to physicist Michael Lubell. The assisted death of Amy Bloom’s second husband, Brian Ameche, is the subject of her memoir, ''In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss''. Her father was the freelance writer Murray Teigh Bloom, a founder and former president of the

American Society of Journalists and Authors The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is the professional association of independent nonfiction writers in the United States. History The organization was established in ...

Works

Fiction

Novels

* ''Love Invents Us'' (1997) * ''Away'' (2007) * ''Lucky Us'' (2014) * ''White Houses'' (2018)

Short stories

* ''Come to Me: Stories'' (1993) * ''A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories'' (2000) * ''The Story'' (2006) * ''Where the God of Love Hangs Out'' (2009) * ''Rowing to Eden'' (2015)

Non-fiction

* ''Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Cross-dressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites with Attitude'' (2002) * ''In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss'' (2022)

Screenplays, teleplays and television shows

* '' State of Mind'' (2007) * '' Wish Dragon'' (2021)

References

External links

Amy Bloom's Official SiteAn Interview with Amy Bloom at Rollins College (March 2015)

Interview with Richard Wolinsky
on KPFA-FM (August 21, 2008)
Interview with Richard Wolinsky
on KPFA-FM (September 4, 2014)
"A Portion of Your Loveliness"
a short story, Narrative Magazine (Winter 2007). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Amy 1953 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American psychologists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American psychologists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American bisexual women American bisexual writers American LGBTQ novelists American women novelists American women psychologists American women short story writers Bisexual women writers LGBTQ psychologists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Smith College alumni Wesleyan University alumni