Anne Fadiman (born August 7, 1953) is an American essayist and reporter. Her interests include

literary journalism Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction, narrative nonfiction, literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts ...

, essays, memoir, and autobiography. She has received the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award.

Early life and education

She is the daughter of

Clifton Fadiman Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, and radio and television personality. He began his work in radio, and switched to television later in his career. Background Born in Brook ...

, who was active in the literary, radio, and television worlds, and Annalee Jacoby Fadiman, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

correspondent and author. She attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, graduating in 1975 from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

with a bachelor of arts degree. At Harvard, she roomed with

Wendy Lesser Wendy Lesser (born March 20, 1952) is an American critic, writer, and editor based in Berkeley, California."Wendy Lesser." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-06-10. Version ...

, a future writer. (

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

and Kathleen Kennedy lived in the same dorm).

Career

Writing

Fadiman has had a career in reporting and writing. Her 1997 book ''

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down ''The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures'' is a 1997 book by Anne Fadiman that chronicles the struggles of a Hmong people, Hmong refugee family from Houaysouy, Sainyabuli P ...

: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures'' won the 1997

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".''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Current Interest, and the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

Book Award. She conducted research in a small county hospital in California, and examined the cultural and medical issues of a Hmong family from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

who had a child with

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

. Their efforts to get treatment for the child were constrained by cultural, linguistic, and medical differences as well as limitation of the American medical system. Their culture had a different explanation for epilepsy. She also wrote two books of essays. The first, ''Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader,'' was published in 1998. The second, ''At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays'' (2007), touched on such topics as Arctic explorers,

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

, and ice cream; it was the source of a quotation in ''

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 ...

'' Sunday

Acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

. She edited ''Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love'' (2005) and the ''Best American Essays 2003''. Fadiman has published a memoir about her relationship with her father, ''The Wine Lover's Daughter'' (2017).

Editing

Fadiman was a founding editor of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

magazine ''Civilization''. She was the fourth editor of the

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, ...

quarterly '' The American Scholar'' since 1997. Under her direction, it won three

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

in six years. She left ''The American Scholar'' in 2004; she was paid an annual salary of $60,000, and was in the midst of a dispute over budgetary issues. At the time of her departure, the journal faced a budget deficit of about $250,000; its circulation was about 28,000.

Teaching

Since January 2005, in a program established by Yale alumnus Paul E. Francis, Anne Fadiman has been

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 ...

's first Francis Writer in Residence, a position that allows her to teach one or two non-fiction writing seminars each year, and advise, mentor, and interact with students and editors of undergraduate publications."Francis Writer-in-Residence"
/ref> In 2012 she received the Richard H. Brodhead '68 Prize for Teaching Excellence by Non-Ladder Faculty.

Personal life

Fadiman is married to American author George Howe Colt. They have two children and a dog named Typo.

Bibliography

Author

* ''

: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures'' (1997) * ''Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader'' (1998) * ''At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays'' (2007) * ''The Wine Lover's Daughter'' (2017)

Editor

* ''Best American Essays 2003'' (2003) * ''Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love'' (2005)

References

External links

A 'Wine Lover's Daughter' Savors Her Dad's Vintage Story
NPR {{DEFAULTSORT:Fadiman, Anne Living people 1953 births Radcliffe College alumni 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American women journalists American magazine editors American women essayists Journalists from New York City Yale University faculty American women magazine editors American women academics 21st-century American essayists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American academics