Nancy Huddleston Packer (born 1925) is an American writer of short fiction and memoir, who is the Melvin and Bill Lane Professor in the Humanities, Emerita, at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Early life and education

Packer was born in 1925 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where her father,

George Huddleston George Huddleston (November 11, 1869 – February 29, 1960) was a U.S. Representative from Alabama, father of George Huddleston, Jr. Life and career Huddleston was born on a farm near Lebanon, Tennessee, the son of Nancy Emeline (Sherrill) ...

, was a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, representing

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

’s 9th congressional district. She was one of five children, and as a child lived in both Washington and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. She graduated from

Birmingham–Southern College Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) is a private college in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1856, the college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). More than 1 ...

in 1945, and gained a master's degree in theology from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1947. She then studied creative writing with

Hudson Strode Hudson Strode (October 31, 1892 – September 22, 1976) was an author and professor of creative writing at the University of Alabama. He taught at the University of Alabama from 1916 until his retirement in 1963. His creative writing classes ...

at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

Career

Packer's first published work appeared in Harper's in 1953, and other work appeared in

Dude ''Dude'' is American slang for an individual, typically male. From the 1870s to the 1960s, dude primarily meant a male person who dressed in an extremely fashionable manner (a dandy) or a conspicuous citified person who was visiting a rural lo ...

. In 1957, she married Herbert L. Packer, and moved to California with him when he was appointed to Stanford University as a professor of law. She was awarded a fellowship at Stanford University's creative writing center for 1959-60, and studied writing with

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book ...

, before joining the faculty in 1961 as a professor of English and creative writing. Her short stories appeared in the

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

Prize Stories in 1969 and 1981. From 1989-1993 she directed the Stanford University program in creative writing. Among her students were

Michael Cunningham Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel '' The Hours'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is a senior lectur ...

and

Ethan Canin Ethan Andrew Canin (born July 19, 1960) is an American author, educator, and physician. He is a member of the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. Canin was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while his parents were vacatio ...

. She served as fiction jury chair for the 2002

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

, and continued to teach creative writing through Stanford Continuing Studies.

Personal life

She is the mother of

Ann Packer (author) Ann Packer (born 1959) is an American novelist and short story writer, perhaps best known for her critically acclaimed first novel ''The Dive From Clausen's Pier''. She is the recipient of a James Michener Award and a National Endowment for the A ...

and

George Packer George Packer (born August 13, 1960) is a US journalist, novelist, and playwright. He is best known for his writings for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Atlantic'' about U.S. foreign policy and for his book '' The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq''. ...

, both writers. Her husband died in 1972.

Bibliography

*1976 ''The Short Story: An Introduction'' (with Wilfred Stone and Robert Hoopes) *1976 ''Small Moments'' *1986 ''Writing Worth Reading: A Practical Guide'' (with John Timpane) *1988 ''In My Father's House: Tales of an Unconformable Man'' *1989 ''The Women Who Walk'' *1997 ''Jealous-Hearted Me'' *2012 ''Old Ladies''

References

External links

*
Nancy Huddleston Packer: An Oral History
" Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 2012. *
Nancy Huddleston Packer: An Oral History
" Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 2014. *
Nancy Packer: An Oral History
" Faculty Senate Oral History Project, Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, Nancy Huddleston 1925 births Living people People from Washington, D.C. People from Birmingham, Alabama 20th-century American women writers American women short story writers 20th-century American short story writers Birmingham–Southern College alumni University of Chicago alumni Stanford University faculty 21st-century American women