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Diane Ackerman

ダイアン・アッカーマン

Daian Akkāman

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1948-10-07
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Ithaca, New York, USA

Career

Occupations
poet, essayist, naturalist, author, writer
Active Years
1976-
Affiliations
Cornell University (collections / past teaching), Columbia University (teaching affiliation), New York Institute for the Humanities (Fellow)
Memberships
New York Institute for the Humanities (Fellow)

Education

Pennsylvania State University
English
Degree: BA
Period: 1966–1970
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: United States
Bachelor of Arts in English
Cornell University
Degree: MA, MFA, PhD
Period: 1970s
Country: United States
Received MA, MFA and PhD (exact years not specified). Carl Sagan was among dissertation committee members.

Awards

National Outdoor Book Award (Natural History Literature)
2015
Work: The Human Age
Category: 自然史文学
Organization: National Outdoor Book Awards
Result: 受賞
PEN New England Henry David Thoreau Prize
2015
Work: The Human Age
Category: ネイチャーライティング
Organization: P.E.N. New England
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize (Finalist)
2012
Work: One Hundred Names for Love
Category: ノンフィクション
Organization: Pulitzer Prize
Result: ファイナリスト
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist)
2012
Work: One Hundred Names for Love
Category: ノンフィクション
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: ファイナリスト
Orion Book Award
2008
Work: The Zookeeper's Wife
Category: 自然・環境
Organization: Orion Magazine
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
John Burroughs Nature Award
Result: 受賞
Lavan Poetry Prize
Category: 詩
Result: 受賞
Literary Lion of the New York Public Library
Organization: New York Public Library
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us

2014 non-fiction / natural history & environment

A lyrical exploration of how human activity has shaped the planet, combining scientific examples and cultural reflection to examine nature, technology, and human ingenuity.

human–nature interactionenvironmental changeanthropocene

One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing

2011 memoir / non-fiction

A memoir about her husband Paul West's stroke and aphasia, and the role of language and love in recovery.

language and communicationhealinglove

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

2007 non-fiction / historical

Narrative non-fiction recounting the true story of Antonina Żabińska and others who sheltered Jews in the Warsaw zoo during WWII.

humanity in wartimehuman–animal relationshipsresistance and compassion
Adaptations
  • [film] The Zookeeper's Wife / ニキ・カーロ（Niki Caro） (2017)

A Natural History of the Senses

1990 non-fiction / science essay

An exploration of the five senses blending biology, history, and cultural commentary.

sensesperceptioncultural history
Adaptations
  • [television (documentary)] Mystery of the Senses (1995)

The Moon by Whale Light

1991 non-fiction / natural history

A series of essays about encounters with bats, crocodilians, penguins, whales and other animals.

endangered specieswildlife biologyfield research

Bibliography

  • The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral (1976)
  • Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems (1991)
  • A Natural History of the Senses (1990)
  • The Moon by Whale Light (1991)
  • The Zookeeper's Wife (2007)
  • One Hundred Names for Love (2011)
  • The Human Age (2014)

Adaptations

  • Film adaptation of The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
  • NOVA miniseries 'Mystery of the Senses' based on A Natural History of the Senses (1995)
  • Stage and musical adaptations of the verse play Reverse Thunder

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical, descriptive proseessays blending natural history and scienceinterdisciplinary, curiosity-driven voice
Recurring Motifs
nature and animalssenses and perceptionmemory and lovefieldwork journeys

Legacy

Known for lyrical essays on natural history, the senses and love; contributed to public understanding of science and nature. Her work reached popular culture through film adaptations and her papers are archived at Cornell University.

Museums

  • Cornell University Library (Diane Ackerman Papers) Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

Academic Societies

  • New York Institute for the Humanities

Archives

  • Diane Ackerman Papers, 1971–1997 (Cornell University Archives)

In Popular Culture

  • Film adaptation of The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)

Quotes

  • “The great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one's curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills every day... It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.”
    Source: from A Natural History of the Senses (excerpt) (1990)

Trivia

  • A molecule named 'dianeackerone' (a crocodilian sex pheromone) was named in reference to her.
  • In 1986 she was a semi-finalist for NASA's Journalist-in-Space project (the program was later cancelled).
  • Carl Sagan served on her dissertation committee.
  • The Zookeeper's Wife was adapted as a feature film in 2017 starring Jessica Chastain.