Laura Furman (born 1945) is an American
author
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
whose work has appeared in ''
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 ...
,'' ''
Mirabella
''Mirabella'' was a women's magazine published from June 1989 to April 2000. It was created by and named for Grace Mirabella, a former '' Vogue'' editor in chief, in partnership with Rupert Murdoch.
It was originally published by News Corpora ...
,'' ''
Ploughshares
''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Bost ...
'', ''
Southwest Review
The ''Southwest Review'' is a literary journal published quarterly at Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1915 as the ''Texas Review'', it is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States. The current ed ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', and elsewhere.
Biography
Furman was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and attended
Hunter College High School
Hunter College High School is a public academic magnet secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill section of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered and funded by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) and no t ...
and
Bennington College
Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932, in
Bennington, Vermont
Bennington is a New England town, town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester (town), Vermont, Manchester. As of the 2020 United States Census, US Cens ...
. In 1978, she moved to
Houston, Texas
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. After living in
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...
,
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, and
Lockhart she settled in
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
with her husband, Joel Warren Barna, and their son. She now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
She has written four collections of stories ''The Glass House, Watch Time Fly, Drinking with the Cook, The Mother Who Stayed'', two novels ''The Shadow Line'' and ''Tuxedo Park'', and a memoir ''Ordinary Paradise.''
From 2002 - 2019, she was the series editor of The O. Henry Prize Stories, an annual collection published by Anchor Books. Furman selected the twenty winning stories.
She taught for twenty-eight years at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
, where she was Susan Taylor McDaniel Regents Professor of Creative Writing. While at UT, she founded the
literary magazine ''American Short Fiction'', which was a finalist for the
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 ...
.
Awards
* New York State Council on the Arts Fellowship
* 1982
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
* Dobie-Paisano Fellowship
* National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
* Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award
* Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship
* Yaddo Residencies
Selected bibliography
Books
* ''Drinking with the Cook'' (story collection)
* ''Ordinary Paradise'' (memoir)
* ''Bookworms: Great Writers and Readers Celebrate Reading'' (edited with Elinore Standard)
* ''Tuxedo Park'' (novel)
* ''Watch Time Fly'' (story collection)
* ''The Shadow Line'' (novel)
* ''The Glass House'' (story collection and novella)
* ''The Mother Who Stayed: Stories'' (story collection and novella)
Short stories
*"Burning Heaven," novella, "
Subtropics
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...
" (Fall 2023).
*"How I Left New York," short story, "
Subtropics
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...
" (Fall/Winter 2016).
*“The Boy Who Did What He Wanted,” short story, "
Epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...
" (Fall 2013).
*“The Blue Birds Come Today,” short story, "
The American Scholar
"The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to Phi Beta Kappa society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his groundb ...
" (Winter 2010).
* “The Eye,” short story, "
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 ...
" (January 2009), 119-134.
*“A Thousand Words,” short story, "
Epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...
" 52, 2 (Summer 2008): 131-141.
*“Plum Creek,” "
The American Scholar
"The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to Phi Beta Kappa society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his groundb ...
" 76, 2(Spring 2007): 104-107.
*“Here It Was, November,” "
Subtropics
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...
" 3(Winter/Spring 2006-07): 106-23.
*“The Old Friend,”"
Prairie Schooner
''Prairie Schooner'' is a literary magazine published quarterly at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with the cooperation of UNL's English Department and the University of Nebraska Press. It is based in Lincoln, Nebraska and was first publi ...
" 80, 1 (Winter 2006): 131-42.
*“The Thief,” "
Antioch Review
''The Antioch Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1941 at Antioch College in Ohio. The magazine was published on a quarterly basis. One of the oldest continuously published literary magazines in the United States prior to it ...
" 64, 3 (Summer 2006): 538-549.
*“The Right Place for a Widow,” "
Southwest Review
The ''Southwest Review'' is a literary journal published quarterly at Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1915 as the ''Texas Review'', it is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States. The current ed ...
" 88(Winter 2003): 503-513.
*“Beautiful Baby,” "
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 ...
" (January 2001): 89-103.
*“Shards,” "
Threepenny Review
''The Threepenny Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1980. It is published in Berkeley, California, by founding editor Wendy Lesser. Maintaining a quarterly schedule (March, June, September, December), it offers fiction, memoirs ...
" (Fall 2000), 32-37.
*“Melville’s House,” "
Southwest Review
The ''Southwest Review'' is a literary journal published quarterly at Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1915 as the ''Texas Review'', it is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States. The current ed ...
" 85(Spring 2000) 290-312.
*“The Apprentice,” "
Ploughshares
''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Bost ...
" 21(Fall 1995): 135-150.
*“Hagalund,” "
Southwest Review
The ''Southwest Review'' is a literary journal published quarterly at Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1915 as the ''Texas Review'', it is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States. The current ed ...
" 79 (Spring/Summer 1994): 271-301.
*“The Secret Keeper,” "
Southwest Review
The ''Southwest Review'' is a literary journal published quarterly at Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1915 as the ''Texas Review'', it is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States. The current ed ...
" 75 (Spring 1990): 212-233.
*“Something Called San Francisco,” "
Southwest Review
The ''Southwest Review'' is a literary journal published quarterly at Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1915 as the ''Texas Review'', it is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States. The current ed ...
" 72 (Spring 1987): 168-181.
*“Tuxedo Park: Novel Excerpt,” "
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
" 201 (October 1986): 290-291, 342-45.
*“Sunny,” "
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 ...
" 60 (28 January 1985): 29-34.
*“Buddy,” "
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 ...
" 60 (9 April 1984): 42-49.
*“Nothing Like It,”"
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 ...
" 58 (17 May 1982): 38-45.
*“Buried Treasure,” "
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 ...
" 56 (25 August 1980): 27-33.
*“The Smallest Loss,”"
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 ...
" 56 (14 April 1980): 44-52.
*“Circle Pin,” "
University of Houston Forum" (Winter 1980): 19-23.
*“Sweethearts,” "
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 ...
" 55 (12 November 1979): 48-49.
*“Arlene,” "
Vision
Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to:
Perception Optical perception
* Visual perception, the sense of sight
* Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight
* Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...
" 2 (July 1979): 45-48.
*“Shazam,” "
Mississippi Review
The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, master's, ...
" 8 (Winter/Spring 1979): 49-58.
*“For Scale,” "
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 ...
" 55 (19 March 1979): 36-37.
*“Eldorado,” "
Houston City Magazine
''Houston City Magazine'' was launched in 1977 as ''In Houston City News Monthly'' and was published for 10 years. Founded by R. D. (Dave) Walker, publisher and editor, and aided by key team members Ali Khan, Curtis Lang, and Jan Vanschuyver Walk ...
" (January 1979): 19-20 and 35.
*“Quiet With Belinda,” "
Fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
" 5 (Spring 1978): 63-74.
*“Listening To Married Friends,” "
Mademoiselle" 84 (February 1978): 70- 78.
*“Seesaw,” "
Redbook
''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...
" 148 (October 1977): 134, 250-58.
*“Real Estate,” "
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 ...
" 53 (5 September 1977): 28-32.
*“The Kindness of Strangers,” "
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 ...
" 53 (8 April 1977): 34-39.
*“Free and Clear,” "
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 ...
" 53 (7 March 1977): 28-32.
*“My Father’s Car,” "
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 ...
" 52 (8 November 1976): 44-50.
*“Last Winter,” "
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 ...
" 52 (1 March 1976): 29-36.
Editor
* Series Editor, ''The O.Henry Prize Stories'', 2003—2019
* Co-editor, with Elinore Standard, ''Bookworms: Great Writers and Readers Celebrate Reading'', 1997
References
External links
Faculty page at the University of Texas at AustinArticle about Furman at The Austin Chronicle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furman, Laura
1945 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American women short story writers
American women novelists
The New Yorker people
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American short story writers
21st-century American short story writers