Andrea Barrett (born November 16, 1954) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer. Her collection ''Ship Fever'' won the 1996 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction, and she received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001. Her book ''Servants of the Map'' was a finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and ''Archangel'' and ''Natural History'' were finalists for The Story Prize."The Story Prize Winner & Finalists - 2013"
. The Story Prize. Retrieved March 22, 2014.

Early life and education

Barrett was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. She earned a B.A. in biology from Union College and briefly attended a Ph.D. program in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

Career

Barrett began writing fiction seriously in her thirties, but was relatively unknown until the publication of ''Ship Fever'', a collection of novellas and short stories that won 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. ...

in 1996. Barrett's work has been published in '' A Public Space'',"''The Investigators'' in ''A Public Space'' Issue 18"
. Retrieved 2013-07-6. ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', '' Tin House'', '' Ploughshares'', '' One Story'', '' TriQuarterly'', '' Salmagundi'', '' The American Scholar'', and '' The Kenyon Review'', among other places. Her fiction and essays have been selected for ''

The ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' '' Best American Short Stories'', '' The Best American Science Writing'', '' Best American Essays'', the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories,"''The Particles'' selected for The O. Henry Prize Stories 2013"
Retrieved July 5, 2013. and other anthologies. Barrett is particularly well known as a writer of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

. Her work reflects her lifelong interest in science, and women in science. Many of her characters are scientists, often 19th-century biologists. Some of her characters have appeared in more than one story or novel. In an appendix to her novel ''The Air We Breathe'' (2007), Barrett supplied a family tree, making clear the characters' relationships that began in ''Ship Fever''. Barrett was a fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. She lives in the eastern

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

, near

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

. Her short story collection ''Natural History'' was longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction in 2023.Deborah Dundas
"5 Canadians nominated for first Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for women and non-binary writers, worth $150,000 (U.S.)"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', March 8. 2023.

Works

Novels

* (1988) ''Lucid Stars'' * (1989) ''Secret Harmonies'' * (1991) ''The Middle Kingdom'' * (1993) ''The Forms of Water'' * (1998) ''The Voyage of the Narwhal'' * (2007) ''The Air We Breathe''

Short story collections

* (1996) ''Ship Fever'' — winner of the

"National Book Awards – 1996"
National Book Foundation. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
(With essay by Julia Glass from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) * (2002) ''Servants of the Map'' — finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

"Fiction"
''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved March 27, 2012. * (2013) ''Archangel'' * (2022) ''Natural History: Stories''

References

External links

* *
Audio recording of Andrea Barrett reading from ''Ship Fever''
2009 Key West Literary Seminar

Interview, ''Identity Theory'' (2002)

''Salon'' (1998)
A sample manuscript page
''The Paris Review'' (2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Andrea 1954 births Living people American women novelists American women short story writers National Book Award winners MacArthur Fellows Union College (New York) alumni Novelists from Boston 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers O. Henry Award winners