Whiting Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 26 (2010) Winner
Elif Batuman
エリフ・バトゥマン
Elif Batuman
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1977 （New York City）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- New Jersey → New York City → Istanbul → Samarkand
Career
- Occupations
- Author, Academic, Journalist
- Active Years
- 2006-2024
- Affiliations
- The New Yorker, Koç University
- Influenced By
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Leo Tolstoy
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard College | — | — | BA | — | United States |
| Stanford University | — | Comparative Literature | PhD | — | United States |
Harvard College
Degree:
BA
Year of Graduation:
1999
Country:
United States
Stanford University
Comparative Literature
Degree:
PhD
Country:
United States
Studied Uzbek language in Samarkand
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award | — | — | Rona Jaffe Foundation | winner |
| 2010 | Whiting Award | — | — | Whiting Foundation | winner |
| 2018 | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | The Idiot | — | Columbia University | finalist |
| 2018 | National Magazine Award | Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry | — | — | winner (later returned) |
Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award
2007
Organization:
Rona Jaffe Foundation
Result:
winner
Whiting Award
2010
Organization:
Whiting Foundation
Result:
winner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2018
Work:
The Idiot
Organization:
Columbia University
Result:
finalist
National Magazine Award
2018
Work:
Japan's Rent-a-Family Industry
Result:
winner (later returned)
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Possessed
2010 MemoirA memoir based on her experiences as a comparative literature graduate student at Stanford University, detailing adventures with Russian books.
Russian literaturePassion for literature
The Idiot
2017 NovelA semi-autobiographical novel partly based on her experiences at Harvard in the mid-1990s and teaching English in Hungary in 1996.
College lifeRomanceIdentity
Either/Or
2022 NovelSequel-like novel to The Idiot.
GenderSexuality
Bibliography
- The Possessed (2010)
- The Idiot (2017)
- Either/Or (2022)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Humorous and winsome style influenced by Russian literatureInfectious delight in literary genius
- Recurring Motifs
- Russian literaturePersonal experiencesGender and sexuality
Legacy
Known as a Pulitzer finalist and staff writer for The New Yorker, a prominent contemporary American author.
Trivia
- Turkish-American parents.
- Came out as queer at age 38.
- Studied Uzbek in Samarkand.