Lisa Alther (born July 23, 1944) 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 ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Personal life

Alther was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, in 1944. Her father was a surgeon, while her mother was a homemaker. She has three brothers and a sister. She graduated from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

with a B.A. in English literature in 1966. She then attended the Publishing Procedures Course at

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 ...

. After graduation Alther worked briefly for Atheneum Publishers in New York before moving to rural

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. Alther wrote fiction steadily for years, without success, collecting more than 250 rejection slips without getting published. She was stubborn however, and determined to succeed. When she finally succeeded, with Kinflicks in 1975, the novel was phenomenally successful. Alther now divides her time among

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

, and

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 ...

. She has one daughter.

Career

Alther is the author of six contemporary novels, ''Kinflicks'', ''Original Sins'', ''Other Women'', ''Bedrock'', ''Five Minutes In Heaven'', ''and Swan Song,'' as well as a small number of published short stories and many magazine articles. She also wrote ''Washed in the Blood,'' a three-part historical novel concerning the earliest European settlement of the southern Appalachians. All of her novels include lesbian or bisexual women characters. She is also known for her humor writing. She has also written two non-fiction books, ''Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree—the Search for My

Melungeon Melungeon ( ) (sometimes also spelled Malungean, Melangean, Melungean, Melungin) was a slur historically applied to individuals and families of mixed-race ancestry with roots in colonial Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina who were primarily ...

Ancestors'' (2007; ) and ''Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance'' (2012; ). Alther has taught Southern fiction at Saint Michael's College in

Winooski, Vermont Winooski is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located on the Winooski River, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census the municipal population was 7,997. The city is the most densely populated municipality in nort ...

, and at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

, where she was awarded the Basler Chair. Between 1978 and 1980, Alther lived in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where she became friends with

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...

. Lessing took an interest in ''Kinflicks'' and helped get the work published in London through a contact at Alfred A. Knopf. It was through Lessing that Alther met the writer, thinker and teacher of

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; , , ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, Indries Shah, né Sayyid, Sayed Idries el-Hashemite, Hashimi (Arabic: ) and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an Afghans, Afghan author, thinker and teacher in ...

. Shah had adapted many Sufi classical works and

teaching stories A teaching story is a narrative that has been deliberately created as a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom. The practice has been used in a number of religious and other traditions, though writer Idries Shah's use of it was in the context of Suf ...

for contemporary readers, and, taking a great interest in these works, Alther read them all, and she also wrote reviews for Shah's books, such as '' World Tales''. In 2020 Alther received the Idries Shah Foundation Award for Human Achievement for “contributions to literature.”

Bibliography

* '' Kinflicks'' (1975) * ''Original Sins'' (1981) * ''Other Women'' (1985) * ''

Bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

'' (1990) * '' Five Minutes In Heaven'' (1995) * '' Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree--the Search for My Melungeon Ancestors'' (2007) * ''Washed in the Blood'' (2011) * '' Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance'' (2012)

Reviews

* ''Original Sins''
Review by Carolyn Clay
in ''The Boston Phoenix'' (7 July 1981) * ''Other Women'' - briefly noted 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 ...

'' 60/49 (21 January 1985): 94

References

External links

Lisa Alther Official Home PageVideo Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alther, Lisa 1944 births Living people People from Kingsport, Tennessee 20th-century American novelists American women novelists American women short story writers Wellesley College alumni Appalachian writers Novelists from Tennessee People from Chittenden County, Vermont 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Writers from Tennessee Radcliffe College alumni