Providing readers with 'a sound and a voice'

 

“I don't think there was aparticular book that made me want to write. They all did.   Ialways wanted to write.” –Elizabeth Strout

 

Strout, who was born in Maine onthis date in 1956, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for OliveKitteridge, a terrific collection of connected short stories about awoman and her immediate family and friends living on the coast of Maine.  The book also was made into a multipleaward-winning HBO series.

 

Of course that’s not all thisgifted New Englander has produced since she had her first short story publishedin 1982.   A small town product, she mostly grew up in NewHampshire and Maine where her father was a science professor and her mother –who she said was a great inspiration for her writing – taught highschool. 

 

Strout has spent most of herwriting years in New York City, although she and husband James Tierney splittheir time between NYC and Maine where he is the former AttorneyGeneral.  She’s now authored 10 bestselling novels, including theinternational sensation My Name is Lucy Barton.  Her latest (just out in 2024) is Tell MeEverything.

 

“I'm writing for my ideal reader,for somebody who's willing to take the time, who's willing to get lost in a newworld, who's willing to do their part,” she said of her award-winningwork.  “But then I have to do my part and give them a sound and avoice that they believe in enough to keep going.”