Anthony Doerr is an American author of novels and short stories. He gained widespread recognition for his 2014 novel All the Light We Cannot See, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Anthony Doerr
Doerr in July 2015
Doerr in July 2015
Born1973
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
EducationBowdoin College (AB)
Bowling Green State University (MFA)
Website
www.anthonydoerr.com

Early life and education

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Raised in Cleveland, Ohio,[1] Doerr attended the nearby University School, graduating in 1991. He then majored in history at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, graduating in 1995. He earned an MFA from Bowling Green State University.[2]

Career

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Doerr's first book was a collection of short stories called The Shell Collector (2002). His first novel, About Grace, was released in 2004. His memoir, Four Seasons in Rome, was published in 2007, and his second collection of short stories, Memory Wall, was published in 2010.

Doerr's second novel, All the Light We Cannot See, is set in occupied France during World War II and was published in 2014. It received significant critical acclaim and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.[3] The book was a New York Times bestseller, and was named by the newspaper as a notable book of 2014.[4] It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015. It was runner-up for the 2015 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction[5] and won the 2015 Ohioana Library Association Book Award for Fiction.[6]

Doerr writes a column on science books for The Boston Globe and is a contributor to The Morning News, an online magazine.

From 2007 to 2010, he was the Writer in Residence for the state of Idaho.[7][8]

Doerr's third novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land, follows three story lines, scattered throughout time: 13-year-old Anna and Omeir, an orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy, on opposite sides of formidable city walls during the 1453 siege of Constantinople; teenage idealist Seymour and octogenarian Zeno in an attack on a public library in present-day Idaho; and Konstance, decades from now, who turns to the oldest stories to guide her community in peril.[9] Cloud Cuckoo Land was released September 28, 2021. It was shortlisted for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction.[10]

Personal life

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Doerr lives in Boise, Idaho with his wife Shauna Eastman and two sons.[11]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • About Grace (2004) ISBN 9780743261821
  • All the Light We Cannot See (2014) ISBN 9781476746586
  • Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021) ISBN 9781982168438

Short fiction

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Collections
Anthologies edited

Memoirs

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  • Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World (2007) ISBN 9781416540014

Essays and reporting

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  • Doerr, Anthony (2010). "Two nights". Fugue. 38 (Winter–Spring 2010): 45–54.
  • — (2013). "Two nights". In Henderson, Bill (ed.). The Pushcart Prize XXXVII : best of the small presses 2013. Pushcart Press. pp. 208–216.

Critical studies and reviews of Doerr's work

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Cloud cuckoo land

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Notes
  1. ^ Online version is titled "Anthony Doerr's optimism engine".

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Long, Karen R. (April 10, 2011). "Anthony Doerr Wins Lucrative Short-story Prize". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  2. ^ "Anthony Doerr". Archived from the original on May 9, 2010.
  3. ^ "Get To Know The Finalists For The 2014 National Book Award". NPR.org. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "The 10 Best Books of 2014". The New York Times. December 4, 2014.
  5. ^ D. Verne Morland. "Dayton Literary Peace Prize - An International Award".
  6. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "ICA". Archived from the original on May 12, 2012.
  8. ^ "Anthony Doerr Is A Recognized (And Slightly Wealthier) Fellow". Boise Weekly. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  9. ^ "HarperCollins is delighted to announce the publication of Antony Doerr's new novel 'CLOUD CUCKOO LAND'" (Press release).
  10. ^ "National Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books Publishing. October 6, 2021. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  11. ^ Oland, Dana (April 20, 2015). "Boise's Anthony Doerr wins the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  12. ^ Staff writer (April 8, 2011). "Anthony Doerr wins Short Story award". BBC News. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  13. ^ Staff writer (April 9, 2011). "A heartwarming win for a heartbreaking tale". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
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