Meredith Hall (born March 25, 1949) is a writer and professor emeritus at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

. She is the author of the memoir ''Without a Map'' and the novel ''Beneficence''.

Background

At 44, Hall graduated from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

and began writing. Since then, her essays have appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''Creative Nonfiction'', ''The Southern Review'', ''Five Points'', ''Prairie Schooner, Shunned, Killing Chickens'' as well as several anthologies. She has received the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

and “notable essay” recognition in ''Best American Essays''. In 2004, Hall won a Gift of Freedom Award from A Room of Her Own Foundation, which gave her the time and financial security to write the memoir ''Without a Map'' (

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...

2007). In 2020, publisher Godine released Hall's debut novel, ''Beneficence''. The novel traces several decades in the Senter family's lives on their Maine dairy farm as they move from grace to tragedy, then struggle towards redemption. In advance of the release of ''Beneficence'',

Richard Russo Richard Russo (July 15, 1949) is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher. Early life and education Russo was born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville. He earned a bachelor's degree, a Master o ...

wrote "If the word ‘luminous’ didn’t already exist, you’d have to invent it to describe Meredith Hall’s radiant new novel." Dani Shapiro wrote "This fiercely beautiful novel took hold of me from the very first page. ''Beneficence'' is at once a page-turner and an artistic triumph." And

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel '' The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, '' Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and t ...

wrote that the novel "instructs us to savor life, to set aside our cold spirit, to notice human beings closely and tenderly, and to believe that telling life plainly is a virtue which can achieve beauty.” ''

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 B ...

'' calls ''Beneficence'' "powerful," writing, "Hall’s meticulous prose convincingly captures the daily realities—sometimes beautiful, sometimes cruel—of agricultural life, and offers insight into the ways calamity fractures family bonds…readers will be rewarded.”

Awards

* Gift of Freedom Award (A Room of Her Own Foundation) *

Best American Essays ''The Best American Essays'' is a yearly anthology of magazine articles published in the United States.Robert Atwan (ed.), Adam Gopnick (guest ed.). ''The Best American Essays 2008'', Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. It was started in 1986 and is ...

(Notable Essay)

Selected works

* ''Without a Map'' (Beacon Press, 2007) * ''Beneficence'' (David R. Godine, Publisher, 2020)

External links

Meredith Hall's websiteBoston Globe review of ''Without a Map''NPR interview with Meredith HallMeredith Hall reads from ''Without a Map'' at the Portland (Maine) Public Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Meredith 1949 births Living people American memoirists Bowdoin College alumni American women memoirists