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Amy Waldman

エイミー・ウォルドマン

Eimī Warudoman

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1969-05-21 （Los Angeles, California, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Los Angeles (birth) → New York (residence/work) → South Asia (reporting visits)

Career

Occupations
Journalist, Author
Active Years
1990-
Affiliations
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (Fellow), American Academy in Berlin (Berlin Prize Fellow), The Atlantic (former national correspondent), Washington Monthly (contributing editor)
Nominations
Guardian First Book Award (2011) – shortlisted

Awards

Berlin Prize
2010
Organization: American Academy in Berlin
Result: 受賞
Entertainment Weekly Favorite Novel of 2011
2011
Work: The Submission
Organization: Entertainment Weekly
Result: 選出
Esquire Book of the Year (2011)
2011
Work: The Submission
Organization: Esquire
Result: 選出
New York Times Notable Book (2011)
2011
Work: The Submission
Organization: The New York Times
Result: 選出
Washington Post Notable Fiction (2011)
2011
Work: The Submission
Organization: The Washington Post
Result: 選出
NPR's 10 Best Novels of 2011
2011
Work: The Submission
Organization: NPR
Result: 選出
Amazon Best Books of the Month (August 2011)
2011
Work: The Submission
Organization: Amazon.com
Result: 選出

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Submission

2011 Novel

Set after a terror attack reminiscent of September 11, the novel follows the fallout when an American Muslim architect wins a blind competition to design a memorial. It explores Islamophobia, personal and collective grief, art and memorialization, and bureaucratic processes.

Islamophobiamemorializationpersonal and collective griefbureaucracy

A Door in the Earth

2019 Novel

Follows a young college graduate born in Kabul and raised in California who, inspired by an American doctor's memoir about building a women's clinic in rural Afghanistan, travels to the remote village to help. She gradually uncovers falsehoods in the memoir and confronts local power structures and the influence of the U.S. military.

power structuresoccupation and soft powercultural understanding and misrepresentationpersonal awakening

Bibliography

  • The Submission (2011)
  • A Door in the Earth (2019)
  • Articles and essays (The New York Times, The Atlantic, Boston Review, etc.)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Journalistic observation fused with fictional narrative realismMeasured, issue-driven prose that confronts ethical and social questions
Recurring Motifs
cultural/religious frictionmemory and memorialsindividual vs. state responsibility

Legacy

Amy Waldman is recognized for bringing her journalistic experience to fiction that examines contemporary American issues of religion, ethnicity, and memory. Her debut novel The Submission sparked wide media attention and public debate after its 2011 publication.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy in Berlin (fellowship)

Archives

  • The New York Times article archives

Trivia

  • Worked approximately eight years as a reporter for The New York Times and served as co-chief of the South Asia bureau.
  • Received the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin in 2010.
  • Debut novel The Submission (2011) was selected on multiple outlets' year-end best lists.