Elizabeth Benedict is an American author best known for her fiction, her
personal essays, as the editor of three anthologies, and for ''The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers''. Her novels are: ''Slow Dancing, The Beginner's Book of Dreams, Safe Conduct, Almost'', and ''The Practice of Deceit''. Her first memoir, ''Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own,'' was published in May 2023.
She lives in New York City and works as a college admissions consultant.
Work
Fiction
Her first published short story, "Feasting," was selected for the 1983
O. Henry Prize
The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry.
The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...
Short Story collection.
Her second story, "A Fifty Percent Chance," published in ''
Seventeen'' magazine in 1982, earned a
National Magazine Award
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 ...
.
Her first novel, ''Slow Dancing'' (
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...
), was a finalist for the 1985
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 ''Los Angeles Times'' Fiction Prize.
Her novel ''Almost'', a ''New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year, was selected as one of ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
''s Best Fiction of 2001.
Nonfiction
Benedict's ''Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers'' (Story Press) was first published in 1996. A second edition, published in 2002, was updated to include the new role of the Internet and the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal in writing about sex in fiction
The book was also published in the U.K., Germany and Australia
Benedict teaches workshops on writing about sex in fiction at writers' conferences and has appeared on radio shows discussing the issue in the U.S., UK, and Australia.
''The Joy of Writing Sex'' led ''
The New York Observer
''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...
'' to include Benedict on its panel on the
Clinton
Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...
-
Lewinsky scandal
Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist. Lewinsky became internationally known in the late 1990s after U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an affair with her during her days as a White House intern ...
, described in
Francine Prose
Francine Prose (born April 1, 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center.
Life and career
Born in Broo ...
's article, "New York Supergals Love That Naughty Prez" Benedict defended then-President Clinton's conduct, saying "Nobody is aggrieved here. Monica's not complaining, Hillary's not complaining. The only person who cares is Ken Starr." Benedict reaffirmed her defense of Clinton in a retrospective of the scandal on the ''
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 ...
''
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
"Slow Burn", in 2018.
Benedict's first memoir, ''Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own'', an account of her experience with
lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
, was published in May 2023.
In 2024, Benedict published an essay in
Salmagundi
Salmagundi (alternatively salmagundy or sallid magundi) is a cold dish or salad made from different ingredients which may include meat, seafood, Egg as food, eggs, cooked and raw vegetables, fruits, or Pickling, pickles. In English culture, the ...
about her personal correspondence with American writer
James Salter
James Arnold Horowitz (June 10, 1925 – June 19, 2015), better known as James Salter, his pen name and later-adopted legal name, was an American novelist and short-story writer. Originally a career officer and pilot in the United States Air F ...
, in which Salter discussed his complex feelings about his
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
identity and decision to change his name from James Horowitz to James Salter. Salter had previously refused to discuss these matters publicly.
Benedict's book reviews, personal essays, and articles have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''Salmagundi'', ''Tin House'', ''Daedalus'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Esquire'', ''Real Simple'', ''Allure'', ''The American Prospect'', and ''The Rumpus''. Her short fiction and memoir have appeared in ''Narrative Magazine''.
Anthologies
Benedict is the editor of three anthologies. The first, ''Mentors, Muses and Monsters: 30 Writers on the People who Changed Their Lives'' (2009, Free Press,
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
), was inspired by an essay she wrote for ''Tin House'' about her mentor at Barnard,
Elizabeth Hardwick.
It includes essays by other
Barnard Barnard is a surname of Old English origin, derived from the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon given name "Beornheard". It is composed of two elements: "Beorn," meaning "young warrior" or "bear," and "heard," meaning "hardy," "brave," or "strong." In some ...
alumnae Mary Gordon and Sigrid Nunez. Nunez's essay on Susan Sontag was the inspiration for her 2011 memoir about Sontag, ''Sempre Susan''.
Her second anthology, ''What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts that Mattered Most'' (2013
Algonquin Books
Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an American publisher of trade books founded by Peter Workman. The company consists of imprints Workman, Workman Children's, Workman Calendars, Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Algonquin Young R ...
), was a
''New York Times'' Bestseller.
Her third, ''Me, My Hair and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession'' (2015, Algonquin Books) includes essays by
Maria Hinojosa
Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda (born July 2, 1961) is a Mexican-American journalist. She is the anchor and executive producer of '' Latino USA'', a syndicated public radio show devoted to Latino issues. She is also the founder, president and CEO ...
,
Marita Golden
Marita Golden (born April 28, 1950) is an American novelist, nonfiction writer, professor, and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, a national organization that serves as a resource center for African-American writers.
Background and care ...
, and
Jane Smiley
Jane Smiley (born September 26, 1949) is an American novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for her novel ''A Thousand Acres'' (1991).
Biography
Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a subu ...
.
Themes
Growing up in New York City has been a noted theme of Benedict's fiction and nonfiction. About her second novel, ''The Beginner's Book of Dreams'', ''Kirkus Reviews'' wrote: "Benedict handles Manhattan life, in this case a young girl's exploration of semi-fraudulent Manhattan life, superbly—with the vibrancy of The World of Henry Orient (that underappreciated book by Nora Johnson) or with the emotional dislocations of the better work of John O'Hara and Richard Yates."
Benedict's personal essay, "Murder One: Mad Dog Taborsky and Me" was published in ''Daedalus'' in 2008
and explored the effect of the murder of her mother's brother on her parents' marriage and her own life. In 1960,
Joseph "Mad Dog" Taborsky
The "Mad Dog killings" refer to a Spree killer, spree of robberies and murders committed by Joseph Louis Taborsky and his partner-in-crime, Arthur Culombe, throughout Connecticut between 1956 and 1957. Authorities and newspapers dubbed the killing ...
was the last man executed in the state of Connecticut until 2005, after being released from death row for the murder of Benedict's uncle. Once released, he committed a series of murders that terrorized central Connecticut in 1956 and 1957.
College essay coaching and teaching
Benedict is the founder and president of Don't Sweat the Essay, Inc., which focuses on coaching students for college and graduate school application essays. She has written frequently on the subject for ''Huffington Post''.
Benedict has been on the fiction faculty of the New York State Summer Writers Institute, at Skidmore College, since 1997
Bibliography
* ''Slow Dancing'' (1985)
* ''The Beginner's Book of Dreams'' (1988)
* ''Safe Conduct'' (1993)
* ''The Joy of Writing Sex'' (1996, revised 2002)
* ''Almost'' (2001)
* ''The Practice of Deceit'' (2005)
* ''Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own'' (2023)
* ''Mentors, Muses and Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives'' (Editor) (2009)
* ''What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Writers on the Gifts that Mattered Most'' (Editor) (2013)
*'' Me, My Hair and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession'' (Editor) (2015)
References
External links
Official websiteNew York City Supergals Love that Naughty Prezin ''The New York Observer''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Elizabeth
Living people
21st-century American women writers
American book editors
Skidmore College faculty
American women academics
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)