Edward Lewis Wallant Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 13 (1980) Winner
Johanna Kaplan
ジョハンナ・カプラン
Johanna Kaplan
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1942 （New York City）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- New York City
Career
- Occupations
- author, short story writer, novelist, essayist
- Active Years
- 1968-
- Nominations
- National Book Award (Other People's Lives) 1976 - finalist, National Book Award (O My America) 1981 - finalist, PEN/Hemingway Award (O My America) 1981 - finalist
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York University | — | — | — | — | United States |
| Columbia University | — | — | — | — | United States |
New York University
Country:
United States
Columbia University
Country:
United States
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | National Jewish Book Award (Fiction) | Other People's Lives | — | Jewish Book Council | winner |
| 1981 | National Jewish Book Award (Fiction) | O My America | — | Jewish Book Council | winner |
| 1976 | National Book Award (finalist) | Other People's Lives | — | National Book Foundation | finalist |
| 1981 | National Book Award (first novel finalist) | O My America | First Novel | National Book Foundation | finalist |
| 1981 | PEN/Hemingway Award (finalist) | O My America | — | PEN America | finalist |
| 1981 | Edward Lewis Wallant Award | O My America | — | University of Hartford (Greenberg Center) | winner |
National Jewish Book Award (Fiction)
1976
Work:
Other People's Lives
Organization:
Jewish Book Council
Result:
winner
National Jewish Book Award (Fiction)
1981
Work:
O My America
Organization:
Jewish Book Council
Result:
winner
National Book Award (finalist)
1976
Work:
Other People's Lives
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
finalist
National Book Award (first novel finalist)
1981
Work:
O My America
Category:
First Novel
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
finalist
PEN/Hemingway Award (finalist)
1981
Work:
O My America
Organization:
PEN America
Result:
finalist
Edward Lewis Wallant Award
1981
Work:
O My America
Organization:
University of Hartford (Greenberg Center)
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Other People's Lives: Stories
1975 Short story collectionA collection of stories about Jewish families living in 20th-century New York City. Through vignettes of daily life, memory and family tensions, the collection explores personal and communal conflicts with wit and compassion.
Jewish communityfamily dynamicsmemory
O My America
1980 NovelFollows Ezra Slavin, a Jewish immigrant who becomes an intellectual and anarchist figure. The novel traces his abrasive relationships, estrangement from family, and sudden death at an anti-war rally in 1972, prompting his daughter to reassess and reconcile their relationship.
immigrant experiencefamily reconciliationpolitics and the individual
Loss of Memory Is Only Temporary: Stories
2022 Short story collection (reissue with new stories)A 2022 reissue of earlier short stories, including two new stories by Kaplan and a foreword by Francine Prose. The collection highlights timeless dialogue and vivid portrayals of characters.
memoryidentityfamily
Bibliography
- Other People's Lives: Stories (Knopf, 1975)
- O My America: A Novel (Harper & Row, 1980)
- Loss of Memory Is Only Temporary: Stories (Ecco, 2022)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- realist depictionblend of humor and poignancydialogue-driven narration
- Recurring Motifs
- family estrangement and reconciliationJewish identitymemory and forgetting
Legacy
Johanna Kaplan is an author recognized for stories and novels that explore Jewish community and complex family relationships. Her work from the 1970s and 1980s received major award recognition and is considered an important part of contemporary American Jewish literature.
Quotes
-
“The collection is a source of every intelligent joy, and restores to reading its old flavor of visits busy with crisis, comedy, wisdom, dreaming, irony, redemption.”
Source: Cynthia Ozick (commentary)
Trivia
- Other People's Lives was a National Book Award finalist in 1976.
- O My America won the National Jewish Book Award and was a PEN/Hemingway finalist in 1981.
- In 2022 Kaplan's short stories were reissued as Loss of Memory Is Only Temporary, including two new stories and a foreword by Francine Prose.