Michelle Latiolais (born 1956) is an American author and academic known for the novels ''She,'' ''A Proper Knowledge,'' and ''Even Now,'' which received the Gold Medal for Fiction from the

Commonwealth Club of California The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to everyone. Act ...

. She is a professor of English at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

, where she co-directs the Programs in Writing.

Background

Latiolais was born in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, in 1956. She received a Master in Fine Arts in fiction and poetry from the

and a Master of Arts from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

, where she was taught by novelist

John Edward Williams John Edward Williams (August 29, 1922 – March 3, 1994) was an American author, editor and professor. He was best known for his novels '' Butcher's Crossing'' (1960), '' Stoner'' (1965), and ''Augustus'' (1972),New York Review Books New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, Ne ...

Classic edition of Williams' novel ''

Butcher's Crossing ''Butcher's Crossing'' is a western novel by John Williams, originally published in 1960. The story follows William Andrews, a young Harvard student who leaves his life behind to explore the American West. The book begins and ends in the fictio ...

''. She lives in Los Angeles.

Bibliography

*''Even Now'' (1990) *''A Proper Knowledge'' (2008) *''Widow'' (2011) *''She'' (2016)

References

1956 births Living people 21st-century American novelists University of California, Irvine faculty 21st-century American short story writers {{US-novelist-1950s-stub