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Tillie Olsen

Born

in Wahoo, Nebraska, The United States

January 14, 1912

Died

January 01, 2007

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Tillie Lerner Olsen (January 14, 1912 – January 1, 2007) was an American writer associated with the political turmoil of the 1930s and the first generation of American feminists.

Though she published little, Olsen was very influential for her treatment of the lives of women and the poor. She drew attention to why women have been less likely to be published authors (and why they receive less attention than male authors when they do publish). Her work received recognition in the years of much feminist political and social activity. It contributed to new possibilities for women writers. Olsen's influence on American feminist fiction has caused some critics to be frustrated at simplistic feminist interpretations of her work. In particular, sever Tillie Lerner Olsen (January 14, 1912 – January 1, 2007) was an American writer associated with the political turmoil of the 1930s and the first generation of American feminists.

Though she published little, Olsen was very influential for her treatment of the lives of women and the poor. She drew attention to why women have been less likely to be published authors (and why they receive less attention than male authors when they do publish). Her work received recognition in the years of much feminist political and social activity. It contributed to new possibilities for women writers. Olsen's influence on American feminist fiction has caused some critics to be frustrated at simplistic feminist interpretations of her work. In particular, several critics have pointed to Olsen's Communist past as contributing to her thought. Olsen's fiction awards, and the ongoing attention to her work, is often focused upon her unique use of language and story form, a form close to poetry in compression and clarity, as well as upon the content.

Reviewing Olsen's life in The New York Times Book Review, Margaret Atwood attributed Olsen’s relatively small output to her full life as a wife and mother, a “grueling obstacle course” experienced by many writers. Her book Silences “ begins with an account, first drafted in 1962, of her own long, circumstantially enforced silence,” Atwood wrote. “She did not write for a very simple reason: A day has 24 hours. For 20 years she had no time, no energy and none of the money that would have bought both.”

In 1968, Olsen signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.

Once her books were published, Olsen became a teacher and writer-in-residence at numerous colleges, such as Amherst College, Stanford University, MIT, and Kenyon College. She was the recipient of nine honorary degrees, National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Also among the honors bestowed upon Olsen was the Rea Award for the Short Story, in 1994, for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in the field of short story writing.

Olsen died on January 1, 2007, in Oakland, California.

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Tillie Olsen’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 6,939 ratings · 824 reviews · 50 distinct works • Similar authors

	Tell Me a Riddle 3.95 avg rating — 2,655 ratings — published 1961 — 44 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yonnondio: From the Thirties by Tillie Olsen, Linda Ray Pratt (Introduction) 3.62 avg rating — 964 ratings — published 1974 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	I Stand Here Ironing 3.89 avg rating — 889 ratings — published 1961 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Silences by Tillie Olsen, Shelley Fisher Fishkin (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 4.22 avg rating — 667 ratings — published 1978 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tell Me a Riddle, Requa I, and Other Works by Tillie Olsen, Laurie Olsen (Foreword), Rebekah Edwards (Introduction) 3.93 avg rating — 228 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Riddle of Life and Death: Tell Me a Riddle and The Death of Ivan Ilych by Tillie Olsen, Leo Tolstoy 4.06 avg rating — 71 ratings — published 2007 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	O Yes 3.56 avg rating — 18 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mother to Daughter, Daughter to Mother: A Daybook and Reader 3.81 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1984 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Was fehlt: Unterdrückte Stimmen in der Literatur by Tillie Olsen, Julia Wolf (Foreword), Nina Frey (Translator) 3.67 avg rating — 12 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vertel me een raadsel by Tillie Olsen, Juliette van Dijk (Translator), Anne Marie Koper (Translator) 3.63 avg rating — 8 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Tillie Olsen (?)

“Be critical. Women have the right to say: This is surface, this falsifies reality, this degrades.”
― Tillie Olsen

14 likes

“It is a long Baptism into the seas of humankind, my daughter. Better immersion and in pain than to live untouched. Yet how will you sustain?”
― Tillie Olsen

13 likes

“But there is more – to rebel against what will not let life be.”
― Tillie Olsen, Yonnondio: From the Thirties

11 likes

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Tillie Olsen’s Followers (136)

Tillie Olsen

Combine EditionsTillie Olsen’s books

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Combine Editions
Tillie Olsen’s books