Aga Khan Prize for Fiction
1 appearances
-
Edition 21 (1991) Winner
Jeffrey Eugenides
ジェフリー・ユージェニデス
Jeffrey Eugenides
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1960-03-08 （Detroit, Michigan, U.S.）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Catholic Baptized in 2022
- Residence History
- Detroit, Michigan → Grosse Pointe, Michigan → San Francisco, California → Brooklyn, New York → Berlin, Germany → Princeton, New Jersey
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Short story writer, Essayist, Professor
- Active Years
- 1986-
- Affiliations
- Princeton University, Program in Creative Writing, New York University, Creative Writing Program (Professor)
- Memberships
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow), American Academy of Arts and Letters (Member)
- Influenced By
- James Joyce, Marcel Proust, William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Pynchon, John Barth
- Nominations
- National Book Critics Circle Award (finalist), International Dublin Literary Award (finalist/longlist), Prix Médicis (France) finalist
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown University | English (Honors Program) | Department of English | AB | 1978–1982 | United States |
| Stanford University | English & Creative Writing (M.A.) | Creative Writing | MA | 1984–1986 | United States |
Brown University
English (Honors Program)
/ Department of English
Degree:
AB
Period:
1978–1982
Year of Graduation:
1982
Country:
United States
Took a year off to travel Europe
Stanford University
English & Creative Writing (M.A.)
/ Creative Writing
Degree:
MA
Period:
1984–1986
Year of Graduation:
1986
Country:
United States
Earned M.A. in English and Creative Writing
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting | Here Comes Winston, Full of the Holy Spirit (short story) | — | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | Winner |
| 1993 | Whiting Award | — | — | Whiting Foundation | Winner |
| 2003 | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | Middlesex | — | Pulitzer Prize Board | Winner |
| 1994 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | Winner |
| 2003 | Welt-Literaturpreis | — | — | Die Welt (Germany) | Winner |
Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
1986
Work:
Here Comes Winston, Full of the Holy Spirit (short story)
Organization:
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Result:
Winner
Whiting Award
1993
Organization:
Whiting Foundation
Result:
Winner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2003
Work:
Middlesex
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board
Result:
Winner
Guggenheim Fellowship
1994
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
Winner
Welt-Literaturpreis
2003
Organization:
Die Welt (Germany)
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Whiting Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 9 (1993) Winner
Ambassador Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 18 (2003) Winner
Pulitzer Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 87 (2003) Winner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1 appearances
-
Edition 1 (2003) Winner
Works
Major Works
The Virgin Suicides
1993 Fiction (Novel) 224 pagesA debut novel that follows the lives and suicides of five sisters in suburban Michigan, told from the perspective of neighborhood boys who obsessively observe them; explores adolescence, isolation, and memory.
Suburban lifeAdolescenceNostalgia and observation
Adaptations
- [Film] The Virgin Suicides (film) / Sofia Coppola (1999)
Translations
- The Virgin Suicides (Japanese translation)
Middlesex
2002 Fiction (Family saga / Historical novel) 529 pagesFollowing the life and self-discovery of Calliope/Cal Stephanides, Middlesex is an epic family saga that traces Greek-American immigrant experience, the rise and fall of Detroit, and the protagonist's intersex identity.
Immigrant experienceGender and identityFamily history
Translations
- Middlesex (Japanese translation)
The Marriage Plot
2011 Fiction (Romance / Campus novel) 352 pagesCenters on three young adults graduating from Brown University and entangled in a love triangle; explores intellectual life of the 1980s, romance, and the tensions between theory and lived experience.
LoveIntellect and literatureComing of age
Translations
- The Marriage Plot (Japanese translation)
Bibliography
- The Virgin Suicides (1993)
- Middlesex (2002)
- The Marriage Plot (2011)
- Fresh Complaint (short story collection, 2017)
Adaptations
- The Virgin Suicides (1999 film, dir. Sofia Coppola)
Translations of Works
- Middlesex (Japanese translation)
- The Virgin Suicides (Japanese translation)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Delicate, detailed psychological characterizationSkillful use of narrative perspectiveRich historical and cultural context
- Recurring Motifs
- Family history and intergenerational storiesNostalgia and urban change (notably Detroit)Identity (gender and cultural)
Legacy
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Middlesex, Eugenides is internationally recognized for epic narratives dealing with immigrant experience and gender; he is also influential as a teacher of creative writing.
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
Archives
- Princeton University archives (related materials)
In Popular Culture
- The Virgin Suicides was adapted into a 1999 film that gained critical and cult attention
Quotes
-
“I tell my students that when you write, you should pretend you're writing the best letter you ever wrote to the smartest friend you have. That way, you'll never dumb things down.”
Source: The Paris Review (interview) (2011)
Trivia
- Of Greek paternal descent and English/Irish maternal descent.
- Took a year off from Brown to travel Europe and volunteered in Calcutta with Mother Teresa.
- Lived in Berlin from 1999 to 2004.
- Won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Middlesex.
- Awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from Brown University in 2014.
- Met former wife Karen Yamauchi at MacDowell; has two children.