Joseph Olshan is an American novelist.

Life and career

Olshan is the author of ten novels, most recently, ''Black Diamond Fall'' (Polis Books, 2018). His first novel, ''

Clara's Heart ''Clara's Heart'' is a 1988 American drama film, based on Joseph Olshan's novel of the same name, directed by Robert Mulligan, written by Mark Medoff and is also Neil Patrick Harris' debut role. Plot The Hart family, parents Leona and Bill ...

'', won the ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specificat ...

''/

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...

Young Writers' Competition and went on to be made into a feature film starring

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

in 1988. In addition to his novels, he has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, including the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' ''

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 New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

, The Times,

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...

,'' and ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

.'' Between 1992 and 1994 he was a regular book reviewer for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

.'' For most of the 1990s he was a professor of Creative Writing at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, where he taught both graduate and undergraduate courses. He is currently Editorial Director of Delphinium Books (distributed by Harpercollins). Olshan is published in the U.S. by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

and

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an American imprint founded in 1955 by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein owned by the Penguin Group unit of Penguin Random House. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Compa ...

and in United Kingdom by

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

and by Arcadia Books. His work has been translated into sixteen languages. He grew up in

Harrison, New York Harrison is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town and Administrative divisions of New York (state), village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York Cit ...

, and New York City and graduated from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. He lives in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

and

Sharon, Vermont Sharon is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It had a population of 1,560 at the 2020 census. Sharon is the birthplace of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and as such is an important historical site for f ...

. Olshan is openly gay. He is not considered a writer of ''gay literature'' but prefers to be considered simply as a "writer".

Novels

* ''Black Diamond Fall'' (Polis Books, 2018) * ''Cloudland'' (St. Martin's Press, 2012) * ''The Conversion'' (St. Martin's Press, 2008) * ''In Clara's Hands'' (Bloomsbury, 2003) * ''Vanitas'' (Simon & Schuster, 1998) * ''Nightswimmer'' (Simon & Schuster, 1994) * ''The Sound of Heaven'' (Bloomsbury, 1992) * ''The Waterline'' (Doubleday, 1989) * ''A Warmer Season'' (Bloomsbury/McGraw-Hill, co-pub, 1987) * ''Clara's Heart'' (Arbor House, 1985)

References

Sources

Library of Congress Online Catalog > Joseph Olshan

External links

Joseph Olshan Official Website

Audio: Vermont Public Radio > Interview with Author Joseph Olshan on ''The Conversion'' > Friday May 2, 2008 > By Neal Charnoff

Bloomsbury > Joseph Olshan Bio

Audio: NPR's ''All Things Considered''> Book reviewer Alan Cheuse Examines ''The Conversion,'' by Joseph Olshan

Audio: NPR's ''All Things Considered''> Book reviewer Alan Cheuse Reviews ''Vanitas,'' by Joseph Olshan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olshan, Joseph Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American gay writers Novelists from Vermont People from Windsor County, Vermont People from Harrison, New York American LGBTQ novelists The Wall Street Journal people University of California, Santa Barbara alumni New York University faculty LGBTQ people from New York (state) LGBTQ people from Vermont 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers