Donna Louise Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American novelist and essayist.

Early life

Tartt was born in

Greenwood, Mississippi Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta region, approximately 96 miles north of the state capital, Jackson, and 130 miles south of the riverp ...

, in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yaz ...

, the elder of two daughters. She was raised in the nearby town of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

. Her father, Don Tartt, was a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

musician, turned freeway "service station owner-cum-local politician", while her mother, Taylor, was a secretary. Her parents were avid readers, and her mother would read while driving.

I know a ton of poetry by heart, When I was a little kid, first thing I memorized were really long poems by A. A. Milne ... I also know all these things that I was made to learn. I'm sort of this horrible repository of doggerel verse.

In 1968, aged five, Tartt wrote her first poem. In 1976, aged thirteen, Tartt was published for the first time when a sonnet was included in '' The Mississippi Review''. In high school, Tartt was a freshman cheerleader for the basketball team and worked in the public library. In 1981, Tartt enrolled in the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

where her writing caught the attention of Willie Morris while she was a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

. Finding her in the

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

bar one evening, Morris said to her, "My name is Willie Morris, and I think you're a genius." Following a recommendation from Morris,

Barry Hannah Barry Hannah (April 23, 1942 – March 1, 2010) was an American novelist and short story writer from Mississippi.Kellogg, Carolyn (March 2, 2010)"Author Barry Hannah, 67, has died" ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 18, 2013. Hannah was born in ...

, then an Ole Miss

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

, admitted the eighteen-year-old Tartt into his graduate course on the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

. "She was deeply literary", said Hannah. "Just a rare genius, really. A literary star." In 1982, following the suggestion of Morris and others, she transferred to

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

. At Bennington, Tartt studied classics with

Claude Fredericks Claude Fredericks (October 14, 1923 – January 11, 2013) was an American poet, playwright, printer, writer, and teacher. He was a professor of literature at Bennington College in Vermont for more than 30 years, from 1961 to 1992. In the late 194 ...

, and also met

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a ...

Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, '' Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publi ...

, and Jill Eisenstadt. Tartt graduated in 1986.

Career

Tartt's novels are ''

The Secret History ''The Secret History'' is the first novel by the American author Donna Tartt, published by Alfred A. Knopf in September 1992. Set in New England, the campus novel tells the story of a closely knit group of six classics students at Hampden Colleg ...

'' (1992), '' The Little Friend'' (2002), and ''The Goldfinch'' (2013). Tartt published her first novel, ''

'' in 1992. The book was derived from her time at Bennington College.

Amanda Urban Amanda "Binky" Urban is an American literary agent and partner at ICM Partners. Urban started at ICM as a literary agent, worked as Co-Director of the ICM Literary Department in New York, and had been Managing Director of ICM Books in London from ...

was her agent and the novel became a critical and financial success. ''Vanity Fair'' called Tartt a precocious literary genius, as she was just 29 years old. In 2002, Tartt's novel '' The Little Friend'' was first published in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, since her books sold more

per capita ''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". The term is used in a wide variety of social sciences and statistical research contexts, including government statistic ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

than elsewhere. In 2006, Tartt's short story "The Ambush" was included in the Best American Short Stories 2006. Her 2013 novel '' The Goldfinch'' stirred reviewers as to whether it was a literary novel, a controversy possibly based on its best-selling status. The book was adapted for the movie '' The Goldfinch''. Tartt was reportedly paid $3m for the movie rights but parted company with her long-standing agent, Amanda Urban, over the latter's failure to secure Tartt a role in the screenplay writing or wider production. The movie was a critical and commercial failure. Tartt is a convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and contributed an essay, "The spirit and writing in a secular world", to ''The Novel, Spirituality and Modern Culture'' (2000). In her essay Tartt wrote that "faith is vital in the process of making my work and in the reasons I am driven to make it." However, Tartt also warned of the danger of writers who impose their beliefs or convictions on their novels. She wrote that writers should "shy from asserting those convictions directly in their work." She has spent about ten years writing each of her novels. Tartt won the

WH Smith Literary Award The WH Smith Literary Award was an award founded in 1959 by British high street retailer W H Smith. Its founding aim was stated to be to "encourage and bring international esteem to authors of the British Commonwealth"; originally open to all re ...

for ''The Little Friend'' in 2003 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for ''The Goldfinch'' in 2014. She was included in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine's 2014 "

100 Most Influential People ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...

" list. Patchett, Ann (April 23, 2014)
"Donna Tartt"
''

''.

Personal life

In 2002, it was reported that Tartt had lived in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

, and on a farm near

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

;, that she is tall and that she had said she would never get married. In 2013, she claimed that she was not a recluse while stressing the freedoms of shutting the door, closing the curtains and not participating in the life of culture. In 2016, Tartt's cousin, police officer James Lee Tartt, was killed while on duty. As of 2016, ''Virginia Living'' published that Donna Tartt lived with art gallery owner Neal Guma. Both of them studied at Bennington. She and her partner purchased the Charlottesville property back in 1997. Donna Tartt also dedicates her second novel to someone named Neal, although she does not elaborate on his identity.

Awards

* 2003

– ''The Little Friend'' * 2003 Orange Prize for Fiction shortlist – ''The Little Friend'' * 2013

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 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 ...

shortlist – ''The Goldfinch'' * 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction – ''The Goldfinch'' * 2014 ''Time'' 100 Most Influential People * 2014 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence for Fiction – ''The Goldfinch'' * '' Vanity Fair'' International Best Dressed List, 2014

Bibliography

Novels * ''

'' (1992,

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

) * '' The Little Friend'' (2002,

) * '' The Goldfinch'' (2013,

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

) Short stories * "Tam-O'-Shanter", ''The New Yorker'', April 19, 1993, pp. 90–91 * "A Christmas Pageant", '' Harper's Magazine'' 287.1723, December 1993, pp. 45–51 * "A Garter Snake", ''GQ'' 65.5, May 1995, pp. 89ff * "The Ambush", ''The Guardian'', June 25, 2005 Nonfiction *
Sleepytown: A Southern Gothic Childhood, with Codeine
, ''Harper's Magazine'' 285.1706, July 1992, pp. 60–66 ::Tartt's great-grandfather gave the five-year-old, for tonsillitis, whiskey, and codeine cough syrup, for two years, when kept home due to tonsillitis, she would read and write poetry. * "Basketball Season" in ''The Best American Sports Writing'', edited and with an introduction by Frank Deford, Houghton Mifflin, 1993
"Team Spirit: Memories of Being a Freshman Cheerleader for the Basketball Team"
''Harper's Magazine'' 288.1727, April 1994, pp. 37–40 * "My friend, my mentor, my inspiration". in * “Afterword” in ''

True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...

'', Charles Portis, Overlook Press, New York, 2010, pp. 255-267 Audiobooks * ''The Secret History'' * ''The Little Friend'' (abridgement) * ''

'' (with an afterword expressing her love of the novel) * '' Winesburg, Ohio'' (selection)

References

Sources

* Hargreaves, Tracy (2001). ''Donna Tartt's "The Secret History"''. New York and London: Continuum International Publishing Group. . * Kakutani, Michiko (1992)
"Students Indulging in Course of Destruction"
''The New York Times'', September 4, 1992. * Kaplan, James (September 1992)
https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/1992/9/smart-tartt --> "Smart Tartt"
''Vanity Fair''. * McOran-Campbell, Adrian (August 2000). ''The Secret History''. * Tartt, Donna (2000). "Spanish Grandeur in Mississippi". ''

Oxford American The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South. First publication The magazine was begun in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on ''T ...

''
Fall 2000
* Yee, Danny (1994)

*

External links

by Robert Birnbaum at identitytheory.com
Tartt Interview
with Jill Eisenstadt in ''

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

'' *
video
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Donna Tartt and Anne Rice interviewed
by

Ray Suarez Rafael Suarez, Jr. (born March 5, 1957), known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist and author. He is currently a visiting professor at NYU Shanghai and was previously the John J. McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies at Am ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

: ''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial i ...

'': (October 30, 1997)
Donna Tartt interviewed
by Lynn Neary,

: ''

'': (November 5, 2002)
Tartt on reading and her Scottish grandmother
at

Maud Newton Rebecca "Maud" Newton is a writer, critic, and former lawyer born in Dallas, Texas in 1971. She was raised in Miami, Florida. Writing Newton first came to attention as the founder of an early litblog. Her essays, critiques and short stories h ...

Tartt in ''Vogue'' on her teenage worship of Hunter S. Thompson
at

*
Donna Tartt interviewed by James Naughtie
at

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

– Bookclub (January 5, 2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tartt, Donna 1963 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Bennington College alumni Converts to Roman Catholicism Living people Psychological fiction writers People from Greenwood, Mississippi Novelists from Mississippi Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers People from Grenada, Mississippi Catholics from Mississippi