Leigh Newman
Leigh Newman (born May 15, 1971)[1] is an American writer and editor. Her memoir about Alaska, Still Points North, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard First Book Prize.[2]
Leigh Newman | |
---|---|
Born | Anchorage, Alaska | May 15, 1971
Occupation | Essayist, editor |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Stanford University University of Massachusetts Amherst |
Period | 2003–present |
Genre | Creative nonfiction Short stories |
Notable works | Still Points North (2013) |
Website | |
www |
Early life
Newman got her B.A. from Stanford University in 1993 and her MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2006.
Personal life
Newman grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and Baltimore, Maryland, traveling between the two cities. She now lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two boys.
Career
Her fiction, essays and book reviews have appeared in One Story, Tin House, The New York Times' Modern Love and The New York Times Book Review, Fiction, New York Tyrant, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, Bookforum, Condé Nast Brides, Condé Nast Concierge, Travel Holiday, Ski, and Frommer’s Budget Travel.[3] She has served as Deputy Editor and Books Editor of Oprah.com and editor-at-large for the indie press Black Balloon Publishing.
Her memoir Still Points North is the story of Newman's unconventional childhood growing up in the wilds of Alaska as her parents' marriage falls apart.
Newman is a visiting writer at the Sarah Lawrence M.F.A. program.[4]
Honors
She has received fiction fellowships from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Corporation of Yaddo.[5] In 2014, she was a Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Fellow.[6] Newman won the 2020 Terry Southern Prize awarded by The Paris Review honoring work of “humor, wit, and sprezzatura".[7]
Bibliography
Memoir
- Still Points North (2013, Dial Press)
Collections
- The Collected Traveler book series (2009, Crown)
- My Parents Were Awesome (2011, Villard)
- One Ring Zero’s The Recipe Project (2011, Black Balloon) - co-editor
References
- Aspen Matis, "Still Points North: An Interview with Leigh Newman," Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine The Open Bar, Tin House Blog, April 22, 2013.
- Laurie Muchnick, "Voting Now for John Leonard Prize Finalists," Critical Mass, National Book Critics Circle Blog, December 21, 2013.
- Michael Kimball, "The Kind of Topic That Defines Your Life: An Interview with Leigh Newman," Los Angeles Review of Books, March 19, 2013.
- "Sarah Lawrence College Faculty Leigh Newman." Sarah Lawrence College, 2015.
- "2007 Summer Residency Fellows," Archived February 9, 2015, at the Wayback Machine The Edward F. Albee Foundation, 2007.
- "Authors, novelists, and poets to gather at Bread Loaf Writers' Conference." Middlebury College, 2014.
- Review, The Paris (March 5, 2020). "Jonathan Escoffery Wins Plimpton Prize; Leigh Newman Wins Terry Southern Prize".