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Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

バーバラ・グリズッティ・ハリソン

Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

Aliases: Barbara Grizzuti

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1934-09-14 （New York City (Queens), U.S.）
Died
2002-04-24 （New York City (Manhattan), U.S.） age 67
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Catholicism
Residence History
Queens, New York City → Brooklyn (Brooklyn Heights), New York City → Tripoli, Libya → Mumbai, India → Hyderabad, India → Chichicastenango, Guatemala → Manhattan, New York City

Career

Occupations
journalist, essayist, memoirist
Active Years
1960-2002
Influenced By
Catholic Worker Movement, medieval female mystics

Awards

American Book Award
1989
Work: Italian Days
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: winner
O. Henry Award
1989
Work: short fiction (specific story not specified)
Organization: O. Henry Prize committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Unlearning the Lie: Sexism in School

1969 social report / education

A report on efforts to change sexist attitudes and practices at a private multiracial elementary school in Brooklyn; documents sex-role issues in education.

sexismeducationfeminism

Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses

1978 memoir / religious history

Combines childhood memoir with a history of the Jehovah's Witness movement, portraying both personal experiences and critical perspectives on the faith.

religionmemoirfaith and rebellion

Off Center

1980 essay collection

A collection of essays and interviews on society, culture, and personal experience.

social criticismpersonal recollection

Foreign Bodies

1984 novel

A novel exploring character and cultural clashes, set against late 20th-century backdrops.

identitycultural conflict

Italian Days

1989 travel writing

A travelogue of the author's experiences in Italy, portraying landscapes, food, and local life with evocative prose.

travelfood cultureregional life

The Islands of Italy: Sicily, Sardinia, and the Aeolian Islands

1991 travel guide / travel writing

A travel book focusing on Sicily, Sardinia, and the Aeolian Islands, combining guide elements with cultural and historical observations.

travelisland cultureshistory

The Astonishing World

1992 essay collection

A collection of essays offering sharp observations on culture, daily life, and the wider world.

cultural observationpersonal insight

An Accidental Autobiography

1996 memoir / fragmentary autobiography

Less a strict autobiography than a loosely organized collection of memories and reflections, arranged by theme.

memorypersonal anecdoterecollection

Bibliography

  • Unlearning the Lie: Sexism in School (1969)
  • Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses (1978)
  • Off Center (1980)
  • Foreign Bodies (1984)
  • Italian Days (1989)
  • The Islands of Italy: Sicily, Sardinia, and the Aeolian Islands (1991)
  • The Astonishing World (1992)
  • An Accidental Autobiography (1996)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
forthright, personal memoiristic voicelyrical and descriptive prose in travel writingsocially critical and witty tone in essays
Recurring Motifs
departure from and return to faithtravel and sense of placefood and everyday culturepersonal memory and family conflict

Health

  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
    1994-2002
    A smoking-related illness that progressively limited her ability to write in later years.

Legacy

Barbara Grizzuti Harrison was an essayist and journalist best known for memoirs about her childhood religious experience and evocative travel writing about Italy. Her sharp social observation and vivid prose earned her recognition in American essay and travel literature.

Trivia

  • Converted to Jehovah's Witnesses as a child, later left the faith, and subsequently converted to Catholicism.
  • Won the American Book Award for Italian Days.
  • Suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in later life.