Ruth Franklin is an American literary critic. She is a former editor at ''

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'' and an

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's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her first biography, ''Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life,'' won the

National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography The National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, established in 1983, is an annual American literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c) ...

and was named a

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Notable Book of 2016.

Early life and education

Growing up, Franklin attended the

Park School of Baltimore The Park School of Baltimore, known as Park, is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian, progressive day school for children in Pre-Kindergarten (age 4) through grade twelve. Park is located in Brooklandville, Maryland, near the city of Baltimo ...

. During her senior year of high school, Franklin interned at a newspaper where she experienced sexual harassment from older reporters. After graduating, Franklin enrolled in

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 ...

for her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in English Language and Literature. She later graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Comparative Literature.

Career

In 1999, Franklin began her literary critiquing career at ''

.'' While working as a senior critic, she published her first book titled ''A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction'' in 2010. In Franklin's book ''A Thousand Darknesses,'' she critiqued the assumption that Holocaust survivor testimonies were completely factual and should be taken as such. "Her study questions the privileging of autobiography over fiction and endorses imagination as a form of truth-telling," wrote Heidi E. Bollinger. Franklin instead argued that Holocaust literature was better understood through fiction. As a result, she was the co-recipient of the 2012 Roger Shattuck Prize for Criticism alongside David Yaffe and named a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize. The following year, she was the recipient of a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and began writing her second book, ''Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life.'' She spent six years conducting research for her book, including sorting through Jackson's archives at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. Upon its publication, she won the 2017

and was named a finalist for the

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography The PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award is awarded by the PEN America PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression i ...

. The book was also named a

Notable Book of 2016 and one of Time magazines top nonfiction book of the year. The following year, she received the 2017 Phi Beta Kappa Society Book Award and Plutarch Award.

Selected publications

*''A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction'' (2010) *''Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life'' (2016) *Foreword to ''Shirley Jackson: A Companion'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Ruth Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American literary critics American women critics Anthony Award winners Columbia University alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Jewish American writers Jewish women writers New York University faculty The New Yorker people Women literary critics Writers from Baltimore