Carole Maso is a contemporary American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, known for her experimental, poetic and fragmentary narratives which are often called postmodern. She is a recipient of a 1993

Lannan Literary Award The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

for Fiction.

Biography

Maso was born in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. in 1955, the child of her jazz musician father and her

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

nurse mother. She received a B.A. in English from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

in 1977. Maso initially wanted to be a journalist when she entered Vassar, but she later decided to focus on creative writing instead. She began working on her novel ''Ghost Dance'' while she was still a student. During her senior year at Vassar, she submitted about 50 pages of prose poems as her senior honors thesis. It is at this point that she knew she wanted to be a writer. Maso eschewed the traditional path to teaching and never studied formally beyond her Vassar B.A., despite having been offered a graduate fellowship at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. Rather, she devoted 9 years to learning the craft by doing, writing while alternately working as a waitress, artist's model, and fencing instructor. She also did some house- and cat-sitting, which afforded her time to write. Maso has referred to this period as her "apprenticeship years." Maso is the recipient of a 1988 NEA fellowship, a 1993 Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction, and several other grants. Her first published novel was ''Ghost Dance'', which appeared in 1986. Her best-known novel is probably ''Defiance'', published in 1998. She is a professor of literary arts at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she has taught since 1995, and she previously held positions as a writer-in-residence at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

from 1991 to 1992 and

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

from 1992 to 1993. She also taught writing at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1993. A forthcoming novel, ''The Bay of Angels'', incorporates various narrative types—essay, memoir, prose poems, and even graphics—and represents more than 20 years of work. Parts of ''The Bay of Angels'' have appeared in journals and anthologies. Maso won a spring 2018 Berlin Prize fellowship, during which she continued to work on ''The Bay of Angels''.

Publications

Novels

* ''Ghost Dance''. New York: Perennial Library, 1986, * ''The Art Lover''. San Francisco:

North Point Press North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, 1990, * ''AVA''. Normal, Illinois:

Dalkey Archive Press Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

, 1993, * ''The American Woman in the Chinese Hat''. Normal, Illinois:

, 1994, * ''Defiance''. New York: Dutton, 1998, * ''Mother & Child''. Berkeley, CA:

Counterpoint Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent S ...

, 2012,

Short stories

* Contributor, ''Tasting Life Twice: Literary Lesbian Fiction by New American Writers'', edited by E. J. Levy. New York: Avon Books, 1995. * ''Aureole: An Erotic Sequence'', Hopewell, New Jersey: Ecco, 1996 (Short fiction collection),

Other

* ''Break Every Rule: Essays on Language, Longing, and Moments of Desire''. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 2000, * ''The Room Lit by Roses: A Journal of Pregnancy and Birth''. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 2002, * ''Beauty is Convulsive: The Passion of Frida Kahlo'', 2002, * Contributor, ''Tolstoy's Dictaphone: Technology and the Muse'', edited by Sven Birkerts. St. Paul, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 1996.

References

External links

*
WebDelSol's profile of Maso

Rain Taxi interview with Maso, 1997/98

Article about Defiance

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maso, Carole Vassar College alumni Living people Illinois State University faculty George Washington University faculty Columbia University faculty Brown University faculty American lesbian writers American women novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women short story writers American LGBT novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Novelists from Illinois Novelists from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people)