Lydia Davis
Encyclopedia
Lydia Davis is a contemporary American writer noted for her short stories
. Davis is also a French translator, and has produced several new translations of French literary classics, including Proust's Swann’s Way
and Flaubert's Madame Bovary
.
The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis was published as a single volume in 2010.
, with whom she has a son, Daniel Auster. Davis is currently married to artist Alan Cote, with whom she has a son, Theo Cote. She is a professor of creative writing at University at Albany, SUNY
.
She has published six collections of short stories, including The Thirteenth Woman and Other Stories (1976) and Break It Down (1986). Her most recent collection was Varieties of Disturbance, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
in 2007. "The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis", published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
in 2009, contains all her stories to date.
Her stories are acclaimed for their brevity and humour. Many are only one or two sentences. Some of her stories are considered poetry or somewhere between philosophy
, poetry
and short story
.
Davis has also translated Proust, Flaubert, Blanchot, Foucault
, Michel Leiris
, Pierre Jean Jouve
and other French writers
.
In October 2003 Davis received a MacArthur Fellowship. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 2005.
described her as "the obvious successor to the post-modern throne" in the wake of Donald Barthelme
's death. Author Carmela Ciuraro has written of Davis's stories: "Anyone hung up on the conventional (and often predictable) beginning-middle-end narrative format may be disappointed by the wild peregrinations found here. Yet these stories are endearing and rich in their own way, and can be counted on without exception to offer the element of surprise."
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
. Davis is also a French translator, and has produced several new translations of French literary classics, including Proust's Swann’s Way
In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its considerable length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine." The novel is widely...
and Flaubert's Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
.
The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis was published as a single volume in 2010.
Life
She is the daughter of Robert Gorham Davis and Hope Hale Davis. From 1974 to 1978 Davis was married to Paul AusterPaul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
, with whom she has a son, Daniel Auster. Davis is currently married to artist Alan Cote, with whom she has a son, Theo Cote. She is a professor of creative writing at University at Albany, SUNY
University at Albany, SUNY
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
.
She has published six collections of short stories, including The Thirteenth Woman and Other Stories (1976) and Break It Down (1986). Her most recent collection was Varieties of Disturbance, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...
in 2007. "The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis", published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...
in 2009, contains all her stories to date.
Her stories are acclaimed for their brevity and humour. Many are only one or two sentences. Some of her stories are considered poetry or somewhere between philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
.
Davis has also translated Proust, Flaubert, Blanchot, Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
, Michel Leiris
Michel Leiris
Julien Michel Leiris was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer.-Biography:...
, Pierre Jean Jouve
Pierre Jean Jouve
Pierre Jean Jouve was a French writer, novelist and poet. No more info at the moment.-References:...
and other French writers
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
.
In October 2003 Davis received a MacArthur Fellowship. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 2005.
Reception and influence
Davis has been described as "the master of a literary form largely of her own invention." Critic Jacob AppelJacob M. Appel
Jacob M. Appel is an American author, bioethicist and social critic. He is best known for his short stories, his work as a playwright, and his writing in the fields of reproductive ethics, organ donation, neuroethics and euthanasia....
described her as "the obvious successor to the post-modern throne" in the wake of Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme was an American author known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, managing editor of Location magazine, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston , co-founder of Fiction Donald...
's death. Author Carmela Ciuraro has written of Davis's stories: "Anyone hung up on the conventional (and often predictable) beginning-middle-end narrative format may be disappointed by the wild peregrinations found here. Yet these stories are endearing and rich in their own way, and can be counted on without exception to offer the element of surprise."
Awards
- St. Martin, a short story that first appeared in Grand Street, was included in The Best American Short Stories 1997The Best American Short Stories 1997The Best American Short Stories 1997, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by Katrina Kennison and by guest editor E. Annie Proulx...
. - 2003 MacArthur Fellows ProgramMacArthur Fellows ProgramThe MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
- 2007 National Book Award Fiction Finalist, for Varieties of Disturbance: Stories
- PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist, for Break It Down
Selected works
- The Thirteenth Woman and Other Stories, Living Hand, (1976) (novel) 1st edition (1995) 1st edition (1997)
Reviews
Vivant Denon's No Tomorrow is one of the masterpieces of eighteenth-century French libertine literature, a book to set beside Laclos's Les Liaisons dangereuses, except that where Laclos's icy novel is one of hellish depravity, Denon's ravishing novella is a paradisal diversion.
External links
- Audio: "Speech on Madame Bovary" at the Center for the Art of Translation
- The Believer Interview
- Essays, Stories, Interviews and readings
- Samuel Johnson is indignant - TMO meets Lydia Davis
- Interview @ BOMB
- "Q&A with Lydia Davis", The Boston Globe, Kate Bolick, April 29, 2007
- "Mothers Who Think", Salon, June 1997
- "2007 National Book Award Fiction Finalist Interview With Lydia Davis", National Book Foundation
- "Structure Is Structure", Poetry Foundation
- "A Conversation with Lydia Davis", Web Del Sol
- Audio-files @ PENNsound listen to Lydia Davis read from her work
- Author Page at Internationales Literatufestival Berlin Davis was a Guest of the ILB ( Internationales Literatufestival Berlin / Germany ) in 2001
- "Lydia Davis", Penn Sound