Meghan O'Rourke (born 1976) is an American nonfiction writer,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and critic.

Background and education

O'Rourke was born on January 26, 1976, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. The eldest of the three children of Paul and Barbara O'Rourke, she had two younger brothers. Her mother was a longtime teacher and administrator at Saint Ann's, an elite independent school in Brooklyn, and later headmaster of the Pierrepont School in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

. Her father, a classicist and

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

, also taught at Saint Ann's and Pierrepont. O'Rourke attended St. Ann's through high school. She earned a bachelor's of arts degree in English language and literature from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1997 and a master of fine arts degree in poetry from

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a required course of study, work an on-campus j ...

in 2005.

Career

Journalism

Immediately after graduating from Yale, O'Rourke began an internship as an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

at ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

.'' She was promoted to fiction/nonfiction editor in 2000, becoming one of the youngest editors ever at the publication. During this time, she also freelanced as a contributing editor of the literary quarterly ''Grand Street''. In 2002, O'Rourke moved to the online magazine ''Slate'', serving as culture and literary editor until 2009 and as founding editor of DoubleX, a section of ''Slate'' that focused on women’s issues. She also continued to moonlight with other publications; from 2005 to 2010 she was a poetry coeditor of the '' Paris Review''. She is also an occasional contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. O'Rourke has written on a wide range of topics, including

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

gender bias Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another. It is a form of unconscious bias, or implicit bias, which occurs when one individual unconsciously attributes certain attitudes and stereotypes to another person or group of people ...

in the literary world, the politics of marriage and divorce, and the place of grief and mourning in modern society. She has published poems in literary journals and magazines including ''The New Yorker'', '' Best American Poetry'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', and ''Poetry'', along with Perrine's Literatures Twelfth Edition. O'Rourke's first book of poems, ''Halflife'', was published by Norton in 2007. Her book ''The Long Goodbye'', a memoir of grief and mourning written after her mother's death, was published to wide critical acclaim in 2011. On July 1, 2019, O'Rourke became editor of '' The Yale Review'', coinciding with the 200th anniversary of its founding. O'Rourke suffers from an

autoimmune disorder An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...

that she has written about for ''The New Yorker''. Her latest book, '' The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness'', was released in March 2022. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' named it one of the top ten books of 2022, regardless of genre. O'Rourke has been treated for

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...

. ''The Invisible Kingdom'' details her decade-long struggle with it and with an autoimmune condition as well as the protracted process of obtaining a correct diagnosis. O'Rourke details how her symptoms were discounted by medical professionals, some of whom lacked empathy. The memoir is highly critical of the medical establishment, documenting its inadequacy in treating those with chronic medical conditions, especially those without a clear diagnosis. The memoir was nominated for the 2022

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five US annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists a ...

Awards and fellowships

*2005: Union League and Civic Arts Foundation Award from the

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthrop ...

*2007: Lannan Literary Award *2008: May Sarton Poetry Prize *2014: Guggenheim Award for General Nonfiction *2017: Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant to complete her book, ''What's Wrong With Me? The Mysteries of Chronic Illness''

Bibliography

Poetry

;Collections * * ''Once: Poems'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 2011). * ''Sun In Days'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 2017). ;List of poems

Memoirs

* ''The Long Goodbye'', memoir (New York: Riverhead, 2011). * '' The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness'', memoir (

Riverhead Books Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) founded in 1994 by Susan Petersen Kennedy. Writers published by Riverhead include Ali Sethi, Marlon James, Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Khaled Hosseini, Nick Hornby, Anne Lamott, Carl ...

, 2022).

Anthologies

* ed. ''A World Out of Reach: Dispatches from Life Under Lockdown'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020)

References

Sources

* ''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2006.

External links

* Website
Official website
* Excerpt
An excerpt
from ''The Long Goodbye'', in ''The New Yorker''. * Audio
Meghan O'Rourke reads "Spectacular"
from the book ''Halflife'' (vi
poemsoutloud.net

Audio: Meghan O'Rourke reading from ''Halflife''
at the Key West Literary Seminar, 2008. (.mp3 / 15:44)
"Chemotherapy"
a poem by Meghan O'Rourke published in ''

Guernica Magazine ''Guernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics'' is an American digital magazine known for publishing fiction, poetry, essays, reportage, art, and interviews that focus primarily on global perspectives and the intersection between art and politics. ...

''
Meghan O'Rourke on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Meghan 1976 births Living people 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers American women poets Poets from New York (state) Radcliffe fellows Slate (magazine) people The New Yorker people Warren Wilson College alumni Writers from Brooklyn Yale University alumni American people of Irish descent