Dara Horn (born 1977) is a Jewish American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a nonfiction essay collection titled ''People Love Dead Jews'', which was a finalist for the 2021
Kirkus Prize
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine '' Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction ...
in nonfiction. She won the
Edward Lewis Wallant Award In 1962, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award was established at the University of Hartford, in Connecticut, USA by Fran and Irving Waltman. It is presented annually to a writer whose fiction is considered to have significance for American Jews. The award ...
Short Hills, New Jersey
Short Hills is an unincorporated community located within Millburn Township, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a popular commuter town for residents who work in New York City. As of the 2020 United States Census, the CDP's pop ...
with three siblings. She attended
Millburn High School
Millburn High School is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Millburn (including its Short Hills neighborhood), in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school ...
and was co-captain of the Quiz Bowl team. Her mother, Susan, was an English teacher with a Ph.D in Jewish studies. Horn's father, Matthew, is a dentist. The family travelled internationally during her childhood, and her parents encouraged Horn and her siblings to write journals about their trips. When Horn was 14, she won a trip to Poland and Israel in a quiz competition about Israeli history, and then wrote an essay about her trip for ''
Hadassah Magazine
''Hadassah Magazine'' is an American magazine published by the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America. It covers Israel, the Jewish world, and subjects of interest to American Jewish women. It was established in 1914.
Esther G. Gottes ...
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in comparative literature in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
in 2006, both 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 high ...
. She finished her master's degree in Hebrew literature at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
.
Career
She taught classes in Jewish literature and Israeli history at Sarah Lawrence College and the City University of New York. She held the Weinstock visiting professorship in Jewish Studies at Harvard, teaching Yiddish and Hebrew literature. Horn served as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU on the Yeshiva Universi ...
during the 2019–2020 academic year. She has also been a contributor to the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''
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, ...
''.
Books
Horn's first novel, ''In the Image'', published by W. W. Norton when she was 25, received a 2003
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. the 2002
Edward Lewis Wallant Award In 1962, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award was established at the University of Hartford, in Connecticut, USA by Fran and Irving Waltman. It is presented annually to a writer whose fiction is considered to have significance for American Jews. The award ...
.
Her second novel, ''The World to Come'', also published by W. W. Norton in January 2006, received the 2006 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction, the 2007 Harold U. Ribalow Prize, was selected as an Editors' Choice in ''
The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' and as one of the Best Books of 2006 by the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'', and has been translated into eleven languages.
Horn's third novel, ''All Other Nights'', published in April 2009 by W. W. Norton, was selected as an Editors' Choice in the ''New York Times'' Book Review.
Her fourth novel, ''A Guide for the Perplexed'', was published in September 2013.
Horn's fifth novel, ''Eternal Life'', was published in January 2018 by W. W. Norton. It was selected as one of ''The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2018.
Horn released her first nonfiction book, ''People Love Dead Jews'', in 2021. The title is based on a 2018 ''
Smithsonian Magazine
''Smithsonian'' is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970.
History
The history of ''Smithsonian'' began when Edward K. Thompson, the retired editor of ''Life'' mag ...
'' article by Horn that began "People love dead Jews. Living Jews, not so much," which is reprinted in the book as an essay titled "Everyone's (Second) Favorite Dead Jew." According to
Yaniv Iczkovits
Yaniv Iczkovits ( born May 2, 1975) is an Israeli writer known for his novels, essays and philosophical work. His 2015 fantasy-historical adventure novel '' The Slaughterman's Daughter'', with an unlikely assortment of Jewish characters on a ques ...
in the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', the collection of twelve essays "explore how the different ways we commemorate Jewish tragedy, how we write about the Holocaust, how the media presents antisemitic events, how we establish museums to honor Jewish heritage, how we read literature with Jewish protagonists and even how we praise the "righteous among the nations" (those who saved Jews during the war), are all distractions from the main issue, which is the very concrete, specific death of Jews." The book was a finalist for the 2021
Kirkus Prize
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine '' Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction ...
in nonfiction.
Personal life
She lives with her husband, daughter, and three sons in Short Hills. Horn has one brother and two sisters.
Bibliography
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Honors
* 2002
Edward Lewis Wallant Award In 1962, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award was established at the University of Hartford, in Connecticut, USA by Fran and Irving Waltman. It is presented annually to a writer whose fiction is considered to have significance for American Jews. The award ...
* 2003
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
''
* ''
Granta
''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...
'' magazine, Best Young American Novelists, 2007
* 2007 Harold U. Ribalow Prize
* Finalist, 2021
Kirkus Prize
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine '' Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction ...