World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Idra Novey

イドラ・ノーヴェイ

Idra Novey

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
Western Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Languages
English, also translates from Portuguese, Spanish, Persian
Residence History
Johnstown, Pennsylvania (grew up) → Brooklyn, New York (current residence)

Career

Occupations
novelist, poet, translator, university instructor
Active Years
2005-2025
Affiliations
New York University (MFA program, instructor), Princeton University (instructor)
Nominations
L.A. Times Book Prize (First Fiction) finalist, Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction (finalist), Clark Fiction Prize (finalist), Best Translated Book Award (translation shortlist)

Education

Barnard College
Degree: BA
Year of Graduation: 2000
Country: United States
Undergraduate degree (graduated 2000)
Columbia University
Degree: MFA
Country: United States
MFA in creative writing (year not specified)

Awards

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature
2017
Work: Ways to Disappear
Organization: Sami Rohr Prize
Result: 受賞
Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize
2016
Work: Ways to Disappear
Organization: Brooklyn Public Library
Result: 受賞
Pushcart Prize
2022
Work: The Glacier (short story)
Organization: Pushcart Press
Result: 受賞
National Poetry Series
2011
Work: Exit, Civilian
Organization: National Poetry Series
Result: 受賞
NEA Literature Fellowship for Translation
2009
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞
PEN Translation Fund Grant
2007
Work: The Clean Shirt of It
Organization: PEN America
Result: 受賞
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award
2016
Work: Ways to Disappear
Organization: Barnes & Noble
Result: 受賞
Kinereth Gensler Award
2007
Work: The Next Country
Organization: Alice James Books
Result: 受賞
Poetry Society of America Chapbook Series Fellowship
2005
Work: The Next Country
Organization: Poetry Society of America
Result: 受賞
Best Translated Book Award (longlist/shortlist)
2011
Work: On Elegance While Sleeping
Organization: Best Translated Book Award
Result: 最終候補

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ways to Disappear

2016 novel (literary fiction)

A novel that explores family, identity, and disappearance through multiple perspectives, examining social fractures and personal loss in contemporary America.

familyidentity and memorydisappearance

Those Who Knew

2018 novel (social fiction)

A novel about a popular senator mired in accusations and the silence and complicity of those around him; a story intersecting political and personal violence in the #MeToo era.

power and silencesexual violenceresponsibility and memory

Take What You Need

2023 novel

Set in contemporary America, the novel examines complex family and community relationships, asking questions of identity and belonging through tensions and reconciliations among characters.

communityfamily reconstructionmemory and truth

The Next Country

2008 poetry collection

An early collection of poems focused on nature, hometown, and personal history, notable for its sensory imagery and linguistic exploration.

naturememoryhome

Exit, Civilian

2011 poetry collection

A poetry collection combining narrative elements with conceptual imagery; selected for the 2011 National Poetry Series.

self and conflicteveryday estrangement

Soon and Wholly

2024 poetry collection

A recent collected volume of poems examining language, place, and facets of the individual.

languageplacebeing

Bibliography

  • Ways to Disappear (2016)
  • Those Who Knew (2018)
  • Take What You Need (2023)
  • The Next Country (poetry, 2008)
  • Exit, Civilian (poetry, 2011)
  • Soon and Wholly (poetry, 2024)
  • Clarice: The Visitor (2014, with Erica Baum)
  • Translation: The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector (English translation)
  • Translation: On Elegance While Sleeping by Emilio Lascano Tegui
  • Translation: Birds for a Demolition by Manoel de Barros
  • Translation: The Clean Shirt of It by Paulo Henriques Britto
  • Translation: Lean Against This Late Hour by Garous Abdolmalekian (co-translated with Ahmad Nadalizadeh, 2020)

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Clarice Lispector's The Passion According to G.H.
  • Translation of Emilio Lascano Tegui's On Elegance While Sleeping
  • Translation of Manoel de Barros's Birds for a Demolition
  • Translation of Paulo Henriques Britto's The Clean Shirt of It
  • Co-translation of Garous Abdolmalekian's Lean Against This Late Hour (with Ahmad Nadalizadeh)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
condensed imagery and lyrical styleshifting perspectives to render character psychology and social structures
Recurring Motifs
memory and lossplace and belongingsilence and confession

Legacy

Idra Novey, as a writer, poet, and translator, explores intersections of politics and personal narrative in contemporary American literature. Her translations have introduced significant works to English-language readers, and her critical recognition and awards have secured her influence.

Quotes

  • "I wanted to burn down the house of fiction."
    Source: The Guardian (interview, 2016) (2016)

Trivia

  • Grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
  • Lives in Brooklyn and teaches at NYU and Princeton.
  • Known for translations from Portuguese, Spanish, and Persian.
  • Short story "The Glacier" won a 2022 Pushcart Prize.