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Edition 17 (2017) Winner
Janet Clara Malcolm
ジャネット・クララ・マルコム
Janet Clara Malcolm
Pen Names:
Jana Klara Wienerová（Birth name (name at birth in Czechoslovakia)）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1934-07-08 （Prague, Czechoslovakia）
- Died
- 2021-06-16 （New York City, U.S.） age 86
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Judaism
- Residence History
- Prague (early childhood) → Washington, D.C. (brief period) → New York City (long-term residence)
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Journalist, Collagist
- Active Years
- 1955-2021
- Affiliations
- The New Yorker (staff writer)
- Memberships
- American Academy of Arts and Letters (member)
- Influenced By
- Joseph Mitchell
- Influenced
- journalism students and long-form nonfiction writers
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan | College/School (unspecified) | Department information not specified | BA | 1950年代 | United States |
University of Michigan
College/School (unspecified)
/ Department information not specified
Degree:
BA
Period:
1950年代
Year of Graduation:
1955
Country:
United States
Wrote for the campus newspaper and edited the humor magazine
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | National Book Award (Nonfiction) | Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession | ノンフィクション（最終候補） | National Book Foundation | ファイナリスト |
| 2001 | Election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters | — | — | American Academy of Arts and Letters | 選出（会員） |
| 2008 | PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography | Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice | 伝記 | PEN America | 受賞 |
| 2013 | National Book Critics Circle Award (Criticism) finalist | Forty-One False Starts | 批評 | National Book Critics Circle | ショートリスト |
| 2017 | American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal (Belles Lettres and Criticism) | — | — | American Academy of Arts and Letters | 受賞 |
National Book Award (Nonfiction)
1982
Work:
Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession
Category:
ノンフィクション（最終候補）
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
ファイナリスト
Election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters
2001
Organization:
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result:
選出（会員）
PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
2008
Work:
Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice
Category:
伝記
Organization:
PEN America
Result:
受賞
National Book Critics Circle Award (Criticism) finalist
2013
Work:
Forty-One False Starts
Category:
批評
Organization:
National Book Critics Circle
Result:
ショートリスト
American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal (Belles Lettres and Criticism)
2017
Organization:
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession
1981 Nonfiction / PsychoanalysisA reportage on the modern psychoanalytic profession focusing on a psychoanalyst given the pseudonym "Aaron Green".
psychoanalysisprofessional ethicscharacter observation
In the Freud Archives
1984 Nonfiction / Biography and legal narrativeNarrative of conflicts surrounding the Freud archives and the controversy that led to a libel lawsuit by Jeffrey Masson.
biographical scholarshipspeech and responsibilityacademic authority
The Journalist and the Murderer
1990 Nonfiction / Journalism studiesA seminal work questioning the ethical relationship between journalist and subject; begins with the famous thesis about journalistic morality.
journalistic ethicstrust and reportingmethods of nonfiction
Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice
2007 BiographyA dual biography exploring the lives and relationship of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.
biographyliterary historyanalysis of relationships
Iphigenia in Forest Hills: Anatomy of a Murder Trial
2011 Nonfiction / Courtroom analysisA reportage that uses a murder trial to examine community and the construction of narrative.
law and societynarrative formationmemory
Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory
2023 Essays / Photography and memoryA posthumously published collection of autobiographical sketches and reflections on photography prompted by family photographs.
photographymemoryautobiographical reflection
Bibliography
- Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession (1981)
- In the Freud Archives (1984)
- The Journalist and the Murderer (1990)
- The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes (1994)
- The Crime of Sheila McGough (1999)
- Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey (2001)
- Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice (2007)
- Iphigenia in Forest Hills: Anatomy of a Murder Trial (2011)
- Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory (2023)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- precise, taut proseinsightful reportage often using first-personcritically infused with psychoanalytic observation
- Recurring Motifs
- relationship between subject and narratorpsychoanalysismemory and photographyethics and trust
Health
-
lung cancer晩年（診断時期の詳細不明）Ultimately died in June 2021 in a New York hospital. Continued writing into advanced age.
Legacy
Janet Malcolm is regarded as a major voice in long-form nonfiction and journalism ethics. Her contentious tone and sharp insights influenced academia and journalism education, and she is frequently cited among the leading long-form journalists of her era.
Museums
- Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Yale University) New Haven, Connecticut, United States Opened in 2013
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
Archives
- Janet Malcolm Papers held at Yale University's Beinecke Library
In Popular Culture
- 'The Journalist and the Murderer' is frequently taught in journalism schools
Quotes
-
Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible.
Source: The Journalist and the Murderer (1990)
Trivia
- Birth name was Jana Klara Wienerová.
- Emigrated with her family from Czechoslovakia to the United States in 1939 to escape Nazi persecution.
- She attributed a change in her writing approach to quitting smoking in 1978.
- Her papers and archives are held at Yale University's Beinecke Library.