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Donna Tartt

ドナ・タート

Donna Tartt

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1963-12-23 （Greenwood, Mississippi, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Catholicism
Residence History
Grenada, Mississippi, U.S. → Greenwood, Mississippi, U.S. → Greenwich Village, New York City, U.S. → Upper East Side, New York City, U.S. → Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Fiction writer
Active Years
1992-
Influenced By
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Classical literature (ancient Greek and Roman authors)
Influenced
Dark academia literary aesthetic, Younger novelists and literary fiction writers

Education

University of Mississippi
Period: 1981–1982
Country: United States
Attended briefly, wrote short stories for student paper
Bennington College
Philosophy
Degree: BA
Period: 1982–1986
Year of Graduation: 1986
Country: United States
Studied classics; met fellow writers who influenced her early career

Awards

WH Smith Literary Award
2003
Work: The Little Friend
Organization: WH Smith
Result: 受賞
Orange Prize for Fiction (Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction)
2003
Work: The Little Friend
Category: 短評（ショートリスト）
Organization: Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction
Result: ノミネート（ショートリスト）
National Book Critics Circle Award (Fiction)
2013
Work: The Goldfinch
Category: 短評（ショートリスト）
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: ノミネート（ショートリスト）
Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction
2014
Work: The Goldfinch
Category: 短評（ショートリスト）
Organization: Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction
Result: ノミネート（ショートリスト）
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2014
Work: The Goldfinch
Organization: Pulitzer Prize (Pulitzer Prize Board)
Result: 受賞
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
2014
Work: The Goldfinch
Organization: American Library Association (ALA)
Result: 受賞
Time 100 (Most Influential People)
2014
Organization: Time
Result: 選出
Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List
2014
Organization: Vanity Fair
Result: 選出

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Secret History

1992 Literary fiction

A novel set at a small college, following a group of students whose study of the classics leads to secrets, murder and moral unraveling.

guilt and redemptionfriendship and betrayalinfluence of classical literature
Translations
  • The Secret History (Japanese translation)
  • German edition (Goldmann)

The Little Friend

2002 Literary fiction / Southern Gothic

A novel exploring childhood, family trauma and the long shadow of a violent death in a Southern town.

loss and revengeSouthern memorycoming-of-age struggles
Translations
  • The Little Friend (Japanese translation)

The Goldfinch

2013 Literary fiction

A sweeping novel following a boy whose life is marked by a bombing at a museum and the theft of a painting, examining loss, identity and the role of art.

loss and traumaart and memoryidentity
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Goldfinch (film) / John Crowley (2019)
Translations
  • The Goldfinch (Japanese translation)
  • German edition (Goldmann)

Bibliography

  • The Secret History (1992)
  • The Little Friend (2002)
  • The Goldfinch (2013)
  • Short stories and essays (selected)

Adaptations

  • The Goldfinch (film, 2019)

Translations of Works

  • The Secret History Japanese translation
  • The Goldfinch Japanese translation
  • German editions of major novels (Goldmann)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
long, richly descriptive narrativedetailed psychological characterizationreferences to classical motifs
Recurring Motifs
loss and traumaart and memoryguilt and redemptionSouthern Gothic landscapes

Health

  • Tonsillitis (childhood)
    幼少期
    Childhood treatment anecdote (whiskey and codeine) noted in memoirs; influenced early reading and writing experiences

Legacy

Donna Tartt is known for publishing few but highly crafted novels over long periods; The Secret History helped originate the dark academia aesthetic and The Goldfinch won the Pulitzer Prize, cementing her status as a major contemporary American novelist.

In Popular Culture

  • Influence on the dark academia cultural and literary aesthetic
  • The Goldfinch film adaptation (2019) and related media discussion

Quotes

  • "If I'm not working, I'm not happy."
    Source: Interview in Gulf News (2013) (2013)
  • "Faith is vital in the process of making my work and in the reasons I am driven to make it."
    Source: Essay "The Spirit and Writing in a Secular World" in The Novel, Spirituality and Modern Culture (2000) (2000)

Trivia

  • Wrote her first poem at age five
  • Had a sonnet published at age 13
  • The Secret History is often cited as emblematic of the dark academia aesthetic
  • Reported height approximately 1.5 m