Annie Dillard (born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 work ''
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'' is a 1974 nonfiction narrative book by American author Annie Dillard. Told from a first-person point of view, the book details Dillard's explorations near her home, and various contemplations on nature and life. Th ...
'' won the 1975
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...
. From 1980, Dillard taught for 21 years in the English department of
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
, in
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...
.
Early life and ''An American Childhood''
Annie Dillard was the eldest of three daughters. Early childhood details can be drawn from Annie Dillard's autobiography, ''An American Childhood'' (1987), about growing up in the 50s
Point Breeze neighborhood of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
in "a house full of comedians.". The book focuses on "waking up"
from a self-absorbed childhood, and becoming immersed in the present moment of the larger world. She describes her mother as an energetic non-conformist. Her father taught her many useful subjects such as plumbing, economics, and the intricacies of the novel ''
On the Road
''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonis ...
'', though by the end of her adolescence she begins to realize neither of her parents is infallible.
In her autobiography, Dillard describes reading a wide variety of subjects including geology, natural history, entomology, epidemiology, and poetry, among others. Among the influential books from her youth were ''
The Natural Way to Draw'' and ''Field Book of Ponds and Streams'' because they allowed her a way to interact with the present moment and a way of escape, respectively. Her days were filled with exploring, piano and dance classes, rock collecting, bug collecting, drawing, and reading books from the public library including
natural history and
military history
Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships.
Professional historians norma ...
such as
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
As a child, Dillard attended the
Shadyside Presbyterian Church
Shadyside Presbyterian Church is a large congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in an historic part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Located at the corner of Amberson Avenue and Westminster Place i ...
in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, though her parents did not attend.
[Dillard, ''An American Childhood'', p. 195] She spent four summers at the First Presbyterian Church (FPC) Camp in
Ligonier, Pennsylvania
Ligonier is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,513 at the 2020 census. Ligonier was settled in the 1760s. The borough is well known for nearby Idlewild Park, one of the oldest amusement parks in t ...
. As an adolescent, she quit attending church because of "hypocrisy". When she told her minister of her decision, she was given four volumes of
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
's broadcast talks, from which she appreciated that author's philosophy on suffering, but elsewhere found the topic inadequately addressed.
She attended
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district serving the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (except for two small parts served by the Baldwin-Whitehall School District) and adjacent Mount Oliver. As of the 2021–2022 school year, the ...
until fifth grade, and then
The Ellis School
The Ellis School is an independent, all-girls, college-preparatory school located in the Shadyside neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The school serves girls aged 3 to grade 12.
History
Ellis' past
...
until college.
College and writing career
Dillard attended
Hollins College
Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States ...
(now Hollins University), in
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...
, where she studied literature and creative writing. She married her writing teacher, the poet
R. H. W. Dillard
Richard Henry Wilde Dillard Vance, Jane Gentry. "R. H. W. Dillard entry" in Southern Writers: A New Biographical Dictionary' (2006). Joseph M. Flora, Amber Vogel, and Bryan Albin Giemza (eds.). Louisiana State University Press. pp. 105-06. . ...
, eight years her senior. Dillard stated: "In college I learned how to learn from other people. As far as I was concerned, writing in college didn't consist of what little Annie had to say, but what Wallace Stevens had to say. I didn't come to college to think my own thoughts, I came to learn what had been thought." In 1968 she earned an MA in English. Her thesis on
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...
showed how
Walden Pond
Walden Pond is a pond in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. A famous example of a kettle hole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000–12,000 years ago. The pond is protected as part of Walden Pond State Reservation, a state par ...
functioned as "the central image and focal point for Thoreau's narrative movement between heaven and earth." Dillard spent the first few years after graduation oil painting, writing, and keeping a journal. Several of her poems and short stories were published, and during this time she also worked for Johnson's Anti-Poverty Program.
Dillard's works have been compared to those by
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
Woolf was born i ...
,
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...
,
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...
,
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
, and
John Donne
John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...
,
and she cites
Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
,
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
,
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
,
George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...
, and
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
among her favorite authors.
[Suh, Grace. (October 4, 1996).]
Ideas are Tough; Irony is Easy: Pulitzer Prize-Winner Annie Dillard Speaks
". The Yale Herald. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
''Tickets for a Prayer Wheel''
In her first book of poems, ''
Tickets for a Prayer Wheel'' (1974), Dillard first articulated themes that she would later explore in other works of prose.
[Books by Annie Dillard]
. Annie Dillard's Official Website. Retrieved November 30, 2011
''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek''
Dillard's journals served as a source for ''
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'' is a 1974 nonfiction narrative book by American author Annie Dillard. Told from a first-person point of view, the book details Dillard's explorations near her home, and various contemplations on nature and life. Th ...
'' (1974), a nonfiction narrative about the natural world near her home in Roanoke, Virginia. Although the book contains named chapters, it is not (as some critics assumed) a collection of essays.
Early chapters were published in ''The Atlantic'', ''Harpers'', and ''Sports Illustrated.'' The book describes God by studying creation, leading one critic to call her "one of the foremost horror writers of the 20th Century."
In ''The New York Times'',
Eudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel ''The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numero ...
said the work was "admirable writing" that reveals "a sense of wonder so fearless and unbridled...
nintensity of experience that she seems to live in order to declare," but "I honestly don't know what
illardis talking about at... times."
The book won the 1975
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...
. Dillard was 29.
''Holy the Firm''
One day, Dillard decided to begin a project in which she would write about whatever happened on
Lummi Island
Lummi Island lies at the southwest corner of Whatcom County, Washington, United States, between the mainland part of the county and offshore San Juan County. The Lummi Indian Reservation is situated on a peninsula east of the island, but it d ...
within a three-day time period. When a plane crashed on the second day, Dillard began to contemplate the problem of pain and God's allowance of "natural evil to happen".
Although ''Holy the Firm'' (1977) was only 66 pages long, it took her 14 months, writing full-time, to complete the manuscript. In ''
The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' novelist
Frederick Buechner
Carl Frederick Buechner ( ; July 11, 1926 – August 15, 2022) was an American author, Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Minister (Christianity), minister, preacher, and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, his work encompassed d ...
called it "a rare and precious book." Some critics wondered whether Dillard was under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs while writing the book. Dillard replied that she was not.
''Teaching a Stone to Talk''
''Teaching a Stone to Talk'' (1982) is a book of 14 short nonfiction narrative and travel essays. The essay "Life on the Rocks: The Galapagos" won the New York Women's Press Club award, and "Total Eclipse" was chosen for ''Best American Essays of the
0thCentury'' (2000). As Dillard herself notes, "'The Weasel is lots of fun; the much-botched church service is (I think) hilarious."
Following the first hardcover edition of the book, the order of essays was changed. Initially "Living Like Weasels" was first, followed by "An Expedition to the Pole." "Total Eclipse" was found between "On a Hill Far Away" and "Lenses."
The essays in ''Teaching a Stone to Talk'':
*"Total Eclipse"
*"An Expedition to the Pole"
*"In the Jungle"
*"Living Like Weasels"
*"The Deer at Providencia"
*"Teaching a Stone to Talk"
*"On a Hill Far Away"
*"Lenses"
*"Life on the Rocks: The Galapagos"
*"A Field of Silence"
*"God in the Doorway"
*"Mirages"
*"Sojourner"
*"Aces and Eights"
''Living by Fiction''
In ''Living by Fiction'' (1982), Dillard produced her "theory about why flattening of character and narrative cannot happen in literature as it did when the visual arts rejected deep space for the picture plane." She later said that, in the process of writing this book, she talked herself into writing an old-fashioned novel.
''Encounters with Chinese Writers''
''Encounters with Chinese Writers'' (1984) is a work of journalism. One part takes place in China, where Dillard was a member of a delegation of six American writers and publishers, following the fall of the
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...
. In the second half, Dillard hosts a group of Chinese writers, whom she takes to
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
along with
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
. Dillard describes it as "hilarious."
''The Writing Life''
''The Writing Life'' (1989) is a collection of short essays in which Dillard "discusses with clear eye and wry wit how, where and why she writes". ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' called it "a kind of spiritual ''Strunk & White'', a small and brilliant guidebook to the landscape of a writer's task." The ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' wrote that, "For nonwriters, it is a glimpse into the trials and satisfactions of a life spent with words. For writers, it is a warm, rambling conversation with a stimulating and extraordinarily talented colleague." ''The Detroit News'' called it "a spare volume...that has the power and force of a detonating bomb."
According to a biography of Dillard written by her husband
Robert D. Richardson and posted on her official website, Dillard "repudiates ''The Writing Life'', except for the last chapter, the true story of stunt pilot
Dave Rahm."
''The Living''
Dillard's first novel, ''The Living'' (1992), centers around the first European settlers of the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
coast. While writing the book, she never allowed herself to read works that postdated the year she was writing about, nor did she use
anachronistic
An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...
words.
''Mornings Like This''
''Mornings Like This'' (1995) is a book dedicated to
found poetry
Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them (a literary equivalent of a collage) by making changes in spacing and lines, or by adding or deleting text, thus ...
. Dillard took and arranged phrases from various old books, creating poems that are often ironic in tone. The poems are not related to the original books' themes. "A good trick should look hard and be easy," said Dillard. "These poems were a bad trick. They look easy and are really hard."
''For the Time Being''
''For the Time Being'' (1999) is a work of
narrative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...
. Its topics mirror the various chapters of the book and include "birth, sand, China, clouds, numbers, Israel, encounters, thinker, evil, and now." In her own words on this book, she writes, "I quit the Catholic Church and Christianity; I stay near Christianity and
Hasidism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
."
''The Maytrees''
''The Maytrees'' (2007) is Dillard's second novel. The story begins after World War II and tells of a lifelong love between a husband and wife who live in
Provincetown
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...
,
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
. It was a finalist for the
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...
in 2008.
''The Abundance''
''The Abundance'', a collection of essays curated by the author, was published in 2017.
Awards
Dillard's books have been translated into at least 10 languages. Her 1975 Pulitzer-winning book, ''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'', made Random House's survey of the century's 100 best nonfiction books. The ''Los Angeles Times survey of the century's 100 best Western novels includes ''The Living''. The century's 100 best spiritual books (ed. Philip Zaleski) also includes ''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek''. The 100 best essays (ed. Joyce Carol Oates) includes "Total Eclipse," from ''Teaching a Stone to Talk''. Two of Dillard's books have won Maurice-Edgar Cointreau Prizes for Best Translation in English. ''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'' won in 1999 and ''For the Time Being'' in 2002. Both were translated by Sabine Porte.
[Curriculum Vitae]
. Annie Dillard's Official Website. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
In 2000, Dillard's ''For the Time Being'' received the
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) to an author for a book of original collected essays. The award was founded by PEN Member and author Barbaralee Diamonstein an ...
.
To celebrate its city's centennial in 1984, the
Boston Symphony
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
commissioned Sir Michael Tippett to compose a symphony. He based part of its text on ''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek''.
In 2005, artist Jenny Holzer used ''An American Childhood'', along with three other books, in her light-based 'scrolling' artwork "For Pittsburgh", installed at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
On September 10, 2015, Dillard was awarded a
National Humanities Medal
The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...
.
Personal life
Relationships
In 1965, Annie (who was then Annie Doak) married her creative writing professor,
Richard Dillard. In 1975, they divorced amicably and she moved from Roanoke to Lummi Island near
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...
. She taught at
Western Washington University
Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...
part-time as a writer-in-residence. She later married Gary Clevidence, an anthropology professor at WWU's
Fairhaven College
Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts college at Western Washington University. Instead of completing the general education requirements at Western, students take interdisciplinary classes at Fairhaven ...
, and they have a child, Cody Rose.
[Cantwell, Mary. (April 26, 1992).]
A Pilgrim's Progress
. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved December 1, 2011. Dillard was married from 1988 until 2020 (his death) to historical biographer
Robert D. Richardson, whom she met after sending him a fan letter about his book ''Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind.''
Teaching
In 1975, Dillard moved to the Pacific Northwest and taught for four years at Fairhaven College and Western Washington University. In 1980, she began what would become a 21-year teaching career in the English department of
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
in
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...
.
Religion
After college Dillard says she became "spiritually promiscuous." Her first prose book, ''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'', makes references not only to
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
and the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
, but also to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, and
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, and
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
spirituality. Dillard for a while converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
around 1988. This was described in detail in a ''The New York Times'' overview of her work in 1992.
In 1994 she won the Campion Award, given to a Catholic writer every year by the editors of ''
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
''.
[Smith, Leanne E. (February 25, 2010).]
Annie Dillard (1945– )
. Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved November 30, 2011. In her 1999 book, ''For the Time Being'', she describes her abandonment of Christianity, describing the supposed absurdity of some Christian doctrines, while stating she still stays near Christianity, and continuing to valorize Catholic writer
Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ( (); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and ...
. Her personal website lists her religion as "none."
Philanthropy
Sales of Dillard's paintings benefit
Partners in Health
Partners In Health (PIH) is an international nonprofit public health organization founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Jim Yong Kim.
Partners in Health provides healthcare in the poorest areas of ...
, a Boston-based nonprofit international health organization founded by Dr.
Paul Farmer
Paul Edward Farmer (October 26, 1959 – February 21, 2022) was an American medical anthropology, medical anthropologist and physician. Farmer held an MD and PhD from Harvard University, where he was a Harvard University Professor, University ...
.
[Annie Dillard Official Website]
. Retrieved December 1, 2011. Dillard's art is available on her website.
Major works
* 1974 ''
Tickets for a Prayer Wheel''
* 1974 ''
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
''Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'' is a 1974 nonfiction narrative book by American author Annie Dillard. Told from a first-person point of view, the book details Dillard's explorations near her home, and various contemplations on nature and life. Th ...
''
* 1977 ''Holy The Firm''
* 1982 ''Living By Fiction''
* 1982 ''Teaching a Stone To Talk''
* 1984 ''Encounters with Chinese Writers''
* 1987 ''An American Childhood''
* 1989 ''The Writing Life''
* 1992 ''
The Living
''The Living'' is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Jack Bryan. It stars Fran Kranz, Jocelin Donahue, Kenny Wormald, Chris Mulkey, and Joelle Carter. Teddy (Kranz) learns he has beaten his wife, Molly (Donahue), in a drunken rag ...
''
* 1995 ''Mornings Like This: Found Poems''
* 1999 ''For the Time Being''
* 2007 ''
The Maytrees''
* 2016 ''The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old & New''
References
Further reading
External links
*
*
NPR: Tsunami Commentary: Dots In Blue Water(Audio)
''Wonder Woman – The Epiphanies of Annie Dillard''(Literary essay)
*
Annie Dillard Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillard, Annie
Living people
American memoirists
American nature writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Writers from Pittsburgh
Hollins University alumni
Wesleyan University faculty
American women poets
American women novelists
American women memoirists
American women essayists
Women science writers
20th-century American poets
21st-century American poets
PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award winners
20th-century American essayists
21st-century American essayists
Former Roman Catholics
National Humanities Medal recipients
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners
American science writers
Novelists from Pennsylvania
Novelists from Connecticut
The Ellis School alumni
1945 births
American women academics