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Anne Tyler

アン・タイラー

An Tairā

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1941-10-25 （Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Quaker
Residence History
Celo, North Carolina (Celo Community) → Raleigh, North Carolina → Montreal, Canada → Roland Park, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Literary critic
Active Years
1959-2025
Affiliations
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Eudora Welty, Reynolds Price, John Updike
Influenced
Contemporary novelists (influence on later writers)

Education

Duke University
Russian Literature
Degree: BA
Period: 1957–1961
Year of Graduation: 1961
Country: United States
Elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Studied creative writing with Reynolds Price.
Columbia University (graduate study)
Slavic Studies (graduate)
Period: 1961–1962
Country: United States
Completed coursework but left before finishing a thesis.

Awards

Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize (Fiction)
1980
Work: Morgan's Passing
Organization: Awarding organization
Result: Winner
National Book Critics Circle Award (Fiction)
1985
Work: The Accidental Tourist
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: Winner
Ambassador Book Award (Fiction)
1986
Work: The Accidental Tourist
Organization: Ambassador Book Award organization
Result: Winner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1989
Work: Breathing Lessons
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: Winner
The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence
2012
Category: Lifetime achievement
Organization: The Sunday Times
Result: Winner
Man Booker Prize (Shortlist)
2015
Work: A Spool of Blue Thread
Organization: Man Booker Prize
Result: Finalist
Man Booker Prize (Longlist)
2020
Work: Redhead By the Side of the Road
Organization: Man Booker Prize
Result: Longlisted
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
1983
Category: Membership
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: Member since 1983

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

1982 Literary realism

A novel about family history and reconciliation; regarded by the author as one of her best works.

FamilyMemoryPassage of time

The Accidental Tourist

1985 Literary realism

Follows a middle-aged man dealing with loss and recovery; adapted into a major film, increasing public recognition.

MarriageRenewalDomestic detail
Adaptations
  • [Feature film] The Accidental Tourist (film) / Lawrence Kasdan (1988)

Breathing Lessons

1988 Literary realism

Depicts the everyday life and reassessment of a marriage; winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

MarriageRedemptionTime
Adaptations
  • [TV movie] Breathing Lessons (TV) (1994)

Bibliography

  • If Morning Ever Comes (1964)
  • The Tin Can Tree (1965)
  • A Slipping-Down Life (1970)
  • The Clock Winder (1972)
  • Celestial Navigation (1974)
  • Searching for Caleb (1975)
  • Earthly Possessions (1977)
  • Morgan's Passing (1980)
  • Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982)
  • The Accidental Tourist (1985)
  • Breathing Lessons (1988)
  • Saint Maybe (1991)
  • Ladder of Years (1995)
  • A Patchwork Planet (1998)
  • Back When We Were Grownups (2001)
  • The Amateur Marriage (2004)
  • Digging to America (2006)
  • Noah's Compass (2009)
  • The Beginner's Goodbye (2012)
  • A Spool of Blue Thread (2015)
  • Vinegar Girl (2016)
  • Clock Dance (2018)
  • Redhead By the Side of the Road (2020)
  • French Braid (2022)
  • Three Days in June (2025)

Adaptations

  • The Accidental Tourist (1988 film)
  • Breathing Lessons (1994 TV)
  • Saint Maybe (1998 TV)
  • A Slipping-Down Life (1999 film)
  • Earthly Possessions (1999 TV)
  • Back When We Were Grownups (2004 TV)

Translations by Author

  • The Book of Absent People (translated, husband Taghi Modarressi)
  • The Pilgrim's Rules of Etiquette (translated, husband Taghi Modarressi)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Disciplined, understated narrative voiceCreates realism through close attention to domestic detail
Recurring Motifs
Family and marriagePassage of time and memorySmall chance events altering livesDomestic minutiae

Legacy

Anne Tyler is a major American novelist noted for her meticulous depiction of everyday family life. With numerous novels, including a Pulitzer Prize winner, her Baltimore-centered body of work combines regional specificity and universal insight and has influenced many contemporary writers and readers.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters

Archives

  • Anne Tyler papers (Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester)

In Popular Culture

  • Anne Tyler tours of Roland Park, Baltimore

Quotes

  • As far as I'm concerned, character is everything. I never did see why I have to throw in a plot, too.
    Source: Interview (1970s) (1977)

Trivia

  • For many years she rarely gave face-to-face interviews or did book tours; after 2012 she gradually accepted more public appearances.
  • Her two daughters, Tezh and Mitra Modarressi, are artists; Mitra has illustrated children's books including ones co-authored with Anne Tyler.