Susan Jane Gilman (born October 22, 1964) is an American writer and novelist. She is the author of two novels, ''The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street'' (2014) and ''Donna Has Left the Building'' (2019) in addition to three non-fiction books: ''Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven'' (2009); '' Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress'' (2005); and ''Kiss My Tiara'' (2001).

Early life and education

Gilman was born in New York City and grew up on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. She attended

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

in New York City and was a student of

Frank McCourt Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. Early life and education Frank McC ...

. Gilman attended

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

where she got a B.A. in 1986. She received a Masters' in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1993.

Career

She has written for several newspapers and magazines including the New York Times, the L.A. Times, Salon, the Guardian, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, and Ms. magazine. She has been a contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered," and won literary awards for her journalism, short fiction, and audio book recordings. ''Kiss My Tiara'', Gilman's first book, is a smart-ass reaction to the advice that women are given. She implores women to get "a life not husband". ''Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, a New York Times Bestseller'' is a memoir of the author growing up in New York City. The topics range from growing up with hippy parents, meeting Mick Jagger, getting bullied at school, and moving overseas. ''Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven'' is a true story of the author setting out to backpack across China in 1986 and running into trouble with her friend and Chinese authorities. ''The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street'' is the author's first novel. It follows the rise and fall of Lillian Dunkle, a Russian immigrant who arrives in America as a child in 1914 and goes on become the doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises over the course of 70 years. Gilman's second novel, ''Donna Has Left the Building'', chronicles Donna Koczynski, a wife, mother, former punk rocker, and recovering alcoholic who blows up her own life and takes off on an epic quest across America that ultimately lands her in the middle of a refugee crisis halfway around the globe. Her books have been translated into eleven languages. She made the keynote presentation entitled “There is No Lightning Bolt" at the TedXZurichWomen on May 29, 2015.

Bibliography

*
Kiss My Tiara
', Warner Books, 2001 *
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
'' Warner Books, 2005 *
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
'' Grand Central Publishing, Hachette, 2009 *
The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street
'' Grand Central Publishing, Hachette, 2014
''Donna Has Left the Building''
Grand Central Publishing, Hachette, 2019

Articles

*
My Rosh HaShanah At A Refugee Camp
', New York Jewish Week September 2019

Awards

* Literary Award for Short Fiction,

Greensboro Review ''The Greensboro Review'', founded in 1966, is one of the nation's oldest literary magazines, based at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, North Carolina. It publishes fiction and poetry on a semi-annual basis. Work f ...

* Three Avery Hopwood Awards, University of Michigan, for fiction and nonfiction * Cowden Memorial fellowship * Gutterman Poetry Prize * New York Press Association Award for feature writing, for articles written on assignment in Poland for Jewish Week

References

External links

*
“There is No Lightning Bolt"
at the TedXZurichWomen, May 29, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, Susan Jane American women novelists Living people 1964 births Brown University alumni University of Michigan alumni 21st-century American women