Samantha Hunt (born May 15, 1971) is an American novelist, essayist and short-story writer. She is the author of ''The Dark Dark'' and ''The Unwritten Book'', published by Farrar, Straus, Giroux; ''The Seas'', published by

MacAdam/Cage MacAdam/Cage was a small publishing firm located in San Francisco, California. It was founded by publisher David Poindexter in 1998. In 2003, it published around 30 to 45 titles per year, primarily fiction, short story collections, history, biogra ...

and Tin House; and the novels ''Mr. Splitfoot'' and '' The Invention of Everything Else'', published by

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

Early life

Hunt was born the youngest of six children in 1971. Her father was an editor, her mother is a painter. She moved in 1989 to attend the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

, where she studied literature, printmaking and geology. She received her MFA 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 requisite course of study, work an on-campus ...

, before moving to New York City in 1999.

Career

Books

Hunt's debut novel, ''The Seas'', first published in 2004, is a magical-realist novel about a young girl in a Northern town who believes herself to be a mermaid. The book was voted one of Village Voice Literary Supplement's Favorite Books of 2004, and won the

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

award for "5 under 35" in 2006. In 2018, ''The Seas'' was republished by Tin House Books in 2018 with a foreword by

Maggie Nelson Maggie Nelson (born 1973) is an American writer. She has been described as a genre-busting writer defying classification, working in autobiography, art criticism, theory, feminism, queerness, sexual violence, the history of the avant-garde, ae ...

. In 2008, she published her second novel, '' The Invention of Everything Else'' through

. The novel provides a fictionalized account of the final days of inventor

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

. Her other novels include ''Mr. Splitfoot (2016),'' a ghost story, and ''The Dark Dark: Stories'' (2017), a collection of short stories. Hunt's short stories and essays have appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'',

New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

, ''

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to n ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

A Public Space ''A Public Space'' is a nonprofit triquarterly English-language literary magazine based in Brooklyn, New York. First published in April 2006, ''A Public Space'' publishes fiction, poetry, essays and art. The magazine's Focus portfolios have exam ...

'', ''

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', '' The Believer'', ''Blind Spot'', ''Harper’s Bazaar'', the ''Village Voice'', ''Seed Magazine'', ''

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer of 1998. He enlisted Holly MacArt ...

'', ''New York Magazine'', on the radio program ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...

'' and in a number of anthologies including ''Trampoline'' edited by

Kelly Link Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of sci ...

. Hunt's play, ''The Difference Engine'', a story about the life of

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

, was produced by the Theater of a Two-Headed Calf.

Awards

Hunt won th
Bard Fiction Prize
the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 award, the

St. Francis College Literary Prize The St. Francis College Literary Prize is a biennial literary award inaugurated in 2009. The prize of is presented to a mid-career author in honor of a third to fifth book of fiction. The winner is selected by a jury and invited to St. Francis Col ...

and was a finalist for the

. In 2017, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction

Literary Influences

Hunt's credits her experiences growing up one of six children for her interest in literature, her dialogue, and her fictional portrayals of motherhood.

Profession

Hunt is a professor of writing at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

Bibliography

Books

* ''The Unwritten Book'' (2022) * ''The Dark Dark: Stories'' (2017) * ''Mr Splitfoot'' (2016) * '' The Invention of Everything Else'' (2008)
Reading at Google
' *
The Seas
' (2004) * ''My Inventions and Other Writings'' by

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

Essays

* "There Is Only One Direction", ''New York Magazine'', 12 May 2015 * "Queer Theorem", ''

Lapham's Quarterly ''Lapham's Quarterly'' is a literary magazine established in 2007 by former '' Harper's Magazine'' editor Lewis H. Lapham. Each issue examines a theme using primary source material from history. The inaugural issue "States of War" contained doze ...

'', Vol. 10, No. 2, Spring 2017 * "Terrible Twins"'',

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'', 1 April 2011 * "Swiss Near-Miss", ''

'', 11 June 2014 * "A Brief History of Books That Do Not Exist",

Lithub Literary Hub is a daily literary website that launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and Electric Literature founder Andy Hunter. Conten ...

, 4 January 2016

References

External links

*New York Time
Interview
at Bookslut *Interview on th
Bat Segundo Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Samantha 21st-century American novelists 1971 births Living people American women novelists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American essayists American women essayists