Garth Greenwell (born March 19, 1978) is an American novelist, literary critic, and educator. He has published the novels ''What Belongs to You'' (2016), which won the British Book Award for Debut of the Year; ''Cleanness'' (2020); and ''Small Rain'' (2024), which won 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 Americans, Green Card holders or permanent residents. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of ...

. He has also published the novella ''Mitko'' (2011), as well as stories and criticism in ''

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, ...

'', ''A Public Space,

The Yale Review ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on ...

,'' ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

''. Among other prizes, he was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Lambda Literary Award. He was a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the 2021 Vursell Award for prose style from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and he is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

Early life

Garth Greenwell was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, on March 19, 1978. He attended duPont Manual High School in Louisville and graduated from

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...

Interlochen, Michigan Interlochen ( ') is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 694, up from 583 at the 2010 census. The community is located w ...

, in 1996. He went on to study voice at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

, then transferred to earn a BA degree in Literature with a minor in Lesbian and Gay Studies from the

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...

in 2001. He then received an MFA in poetry from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, and an MA in English and American Literature from

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 ...

, where he also spent three years doing Ph.D. coursework.

Career

Early in his career, Greenwell taught English at Greenhills School, a private high school in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, and at the

American College of Sofia The American College of Sofia (ACS) (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: ) is a school in Bulgaria, located in the capital city of Sofia.The college was founded in 1860 and is regarded as the oldest American educational institution outside the United S ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

; the oldest American educational institution outside the US. His frequent book reviews in the literary journal '' West Branch'' transitioned into a yearly column called "To a Green Thought: Garth Greenwell on Poetry." In 2013, Greenwell returned to the United States after living in Bulgaria to attend the Iowa Writers' Workshop as an Arts Fellow. For his poetry, he received received the Grolier Prize, the Rella Lossy Award, an award from the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Foundation, and the Bechtel Prize from the Teachers & Writers Collaborative. He was the 2008 John Atherton Scholar for Poetry at the

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is an author's conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1926, it has been called by ''The New Yorker'' "the oldest and most ...

. Greenwell's first novella, ''Mitko'', won the Miami University Press Novella Prize and was a finalist for the Edmund White Award as well as the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Debut Fiction. His debut novel, ''What Belongs to You,'' was called the "first great novel of 2016" by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

.'' The book follows an American teacher who meets a charismatic young sex-worker and becomes ensnared in a relationship of mutual predation and romance. It won the

British Book Award The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

for Debut of the Year, was longlisted 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 was shortlisted for the

, among several other prizes. Greenwell's second novel, ''Cleanness,'' was published in January 2020 and was well received by critics. It was a

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 ...

Notable Book and chosen by

Dwight Garner Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...

as one of the Top Ten Book of the Year, as well as named a Best Book of the Year by over 30 Publications. Longlisted for the Prix Sade, the Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize, and the

Gordon Burn Prize The Gordon Burn Prize was launched in 2013 as a vehicle by which "to reward fiction or non-fiction written in the English language, which in the opinion of the judges most successfully represents the spirit and sensibility of nowiki/>Gordon Burn ...

, the book showcases the same American teacher from Greenwell's debut novel, ''What Belongs to You'', as he navigates a life transformed by the discovery and loss of love. In 2024, Greenwell published his third novel, ''Small Rain'', which won the PEN/Faulkner Award. It was longlisted for the

National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction The National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, established in 1976,The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and many other publications. It follows the same narrator from Greenwell's previous two books, who undergoes a health crisis and is hospitalized in the ICU. Confined to bed, the narrator is plunged into the dysfunctional American healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic. In ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...

'',

John Warner John William Warner III (February 18, 1927 – May 25, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Republican Party, Republican United Stat ...

called the book "One of the most profound reading experiences I've ever had." Greenwell is also active as a critic. His essay "A Moral Education", on

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (; March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophical ...

's ''

Sabbath's Theater ''Sabbath's Theater'' is a novel by Philip Roth about the exploits of 64-year-old Mickey Sabbath. It won the 1995 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. The cover is a detail of ''Sailor and Girl'' (1925) by German painter Otto Dix. Summary an ...

'', was widely discussed, receiving "a rapturous reception," according to ''The Chronicle of Higher Education''. He has also written on

Andrew Holleran Andrew Holleran is the pseudonym of Eric Garber (born 1944), an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer, born on the island of Aruba. Most of his adult life has been spent in New York City, Washington, D.C., and a small town in Florid ...

, Raven Leilani,

Pedro Lemebel Pedro Segundo Mardones Lemebel (21 November 1952 – 23 January 2015) was a Chilean essayist, chronicler, performer and novelist. He was coming out, openly gay and known for his cutting critique of authoritarianism and for his humorous depictio ...

, and Georgi Gospodinov, among others. Since November 2022 he has written essays about visual art, film, music, and literature for the Substack newsletter To a Green Thought. His essay on

Jonathan Glazer Jonathan Glazer (born 26 March 1965) is an English filmmaker. He began his career in theatre before transitioning into film, directing the features '' Sexy Beast'' (2000), ''Birth'' (2004), '' Under the Skin'' (2013), and '' The Zone of Inter ...

's ''

The Zone of Interest Zone of Interest or The Zone of Interest can refer to: * Zone of Interest (Auschwitz), an area surrounding Auschwitz concentration camp * ''The Zone of Interest'' (novel), a 2014 novel by Martin Amis, named after the above * ''The Zone of Intere ...

'', first published in To a Green Thought, was reprinted in ''The Point''.

Awards and recognition

Literary prizes

Other things

Bibliography

Novels

* * *

Anthologies (edited)

* ''Kink,'' co-edited with R. O. Kwon. Simon & Schuster. 2021.

Short fiction

Essays and reporting

To a Green Thought: A newsletter on art and culture

On Edmund White's ''Nocturnes for the King of Naples''
', The New Yorker, 28 May 2024''
On Andrew Holleran's ''Dancer from the Dance''
''The Yale Review'', 9 July 2024
On Philip Roth's ''Sabbath's Theater''
''The Yale Review, 10 Dec. 2024''
On Andrew Holleran's ''Kingdom of Sand''
''The New Yorker'', 6 June 2022
On a Sentence by Raven Leilani
''The Sewanee Review'', Spring 2022
On Ceirra Evans
''The New Yorker'', 15 Feb. 2022
On John Brooks
''The New Yorker'', 14 Sept. 2021
Making Meaning: On Relevance in Art
''Harper's Magazine'', 15 Oct. 2020
On Writing Sex
''The Guardian'', May 2020
On Mark McKnight
''GQ'', 29 Sept. 2020,
On Caleb Crain's ''Overthrow''
', The New Yorker'', 28 Aug. 2019, *
Get out of town : 'The end of Eddy', a novel of class and violence in the provinces
. The Critics. Books. ''The New Yorker''. 93 (12): 62–65. May 8, 2017.

Adaptations

''What Belongs to You'' was adapted as a 2021 opera by composer/librettist

David T. Little David T. Little (born October 25, 1978) is a Grammy-nominated American composer, record producer, and drummer known for his operatic, orchestral, and chamber works, most notably his operas ''JFK,'' ''Soldier Songs'', and ''Dog Days'' which was na ...

. The premiere production was by Mark Morris, starring Karim Sulayman as the narrator, and conducted by Alan Pierson.

Notes

References

External links

* *''Paris Review'
interview
2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwell, Garth 1978 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American poets American male novelists American male poets American gay writers Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American LGBTQ novelists American LGBTQ poets State University of New York at Purchase alumni The New Yorker people Washington University in St. Louis alumni Writers from Louisville, Kentucky PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners Novelists from Kentucky Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni 21st-century American male writers Gay poets