Lisa Alther (born July 23, 1944) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

Personal life

Alther was born in Kingsport, Tennessee in 1944. Her father was a surgeon, while her mother was a homemaker. She has 3 brothers and a sister. She graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in English literature in 1966. She then attended the Publishing Procedures Course at Radcliffe College. After graduation Alther worked briefly for

Atheneum Publishers Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since its acquisition of Macmillan in 1994 and it created Athen ...

in New York before moving to rural

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. Alther wrote fiction steadily for years, without success, collecting more than 250 rejection slips without getting published. She was stubborn however, and determined to succeed. When she finally succeeded, with Kinflicks in 1975, the novel was phenomenally successful. Alther now divides her time among East Tennessee,

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She has one daughter.

Career

Alther is the author of six contemporary novels, ''Kinflicks'', ''Original Sins'', ''Other Women'', ''Bedrock'', ''Five Minutes In Heaven'', ''and Swan Song,'' as well as a small number of published short stories and many magazine articles. She also wrote ''Washed in the Blood,'' a three-part historical novel concerning the earliest European settlement of the southern Appalachians. All of her novels include lesbian or bisexual women characters. She is also known for her humor writing. She has also written two non-fiction books, ''Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree—the Search for My

Melungeon Melungeons ( ) are an ethnicity from the Southeastern United States who descend from Europeans, Native American, and sub-Saharan Africans brought to America as indentured servants and later as slaves. Historically, the Melungeons were associated ...

Ancestors'' (2007; ) and ''Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance'' (2012; ). Alther has taught Southern fiction at

Saint Michael's College Saint Michael's College (St. Mikes or Saint Michael's) is a private Roman Catholic college in Colchester, Vermont. Saint Michael's was founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund. It grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees ...

Winooski, Vermont Winooski is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Located on the Winooski River, as of the 2020 U.S. census the municipal population was 7,997. The city is the most densely populated municipality in northern New England, an area co ...

, and at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

, where she was awarded the Basler Chair. Between 1978 and 1980, Alther lived in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where she became friends with Doris Lessing. Lessing took an interest in ''Kinflicks'' and helped get the work published in London through a contact at

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 ...

. It was through Lessing that Alther met the writer, thinker and teacher of Sufi

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Ark ...

. Shah had adapted many Sufi classical works and

teaching stories A teaching story is a narrative that has been deliberately created as a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom. The practice has been used in a number of religious and other traditions, though writer Idries Shah's use of it was in the context of Su ...

for contemporary readers, and, taking a great interest in these works, Alther read them all, and she also wrote reviews for Shah's books, such as '' World Tales''.

Bibliography

* '' Kinflicks'' (1975) * '' Original Sins'' (1981) * ''Other Women'' (1985) * '' Bedrock'' (1990) * '' Five Minutes In Heaven'' (1995) * '' Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree--the Search for My Melungeon Ancestors'' (2007) * ''Washed in the Blood'' (2011) * '' Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance'' (2012)

Reviews

* ''Other Women'' - briefly noted 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 ...

'' 60/49 (21 January 1985): 94

References

External links

Lisa Alther Official Home PageVideo Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alther, Lisa 1944 births Living people People from Kingsport, Tennessee 20th-century American novelists American women novelists American women short story writers Wellesley College alumni Appalachian writers Novelists from Tennessee People from Chittenden County, Vermont 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers American writers