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Kathryn Harrison

キャスリン・ハリソン

Kyashurin Harison

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1961-03-20 (Los Angeles, California)
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Los Angeles, California → New York

Career

Occupations
Author, Novelist, Essayist, Critic
Active Years
1992-2024

Education

Stanford University
English and Art History
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Year of Graduation: 1982
Country: United States
University of Iowa
Writers' Workshop
Degree: Master of Fine Arts
Year of Graduation: 1987
Country: United States

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Kiss

1997 Memoir

A memoir detailing the author's incestuous relationship with her father that began when she was twenty.

IncestFamily traumaSelf-exploration

Thicker Than Water

1992 Novel

Debut novel exploring family secrets and conflicts.

Family dynamicsLoss

The Binding Chair

2000 Historical novel

Historical novel inspired by her grandmother's life in Shanghai.

Cultural clashWomen's fate

The Seal Wife

2002 Novel

Set in Alaska during WWI, drawing on her grandfather's early life.

IsolationNature

Bibliography

  • Thicker Than Water
  • Exposure
  • A Thousand Orange Trees
  • Poison
  • The Binding Chair
  • The Seal Wife
  • Envy
  • Enchantments
  • The Kiss
  • Seeking Rapture: Scenes From a Life
  • The Road to Santiago
  • Saint Therese of Lisieux
  • The Mother Knot
  • While They Slept
  • Joan of Arc
  • True Crimes: A Family Album
  • On Sunset

Style & Themes

Literary Style
ConfessionalIntrospectiveEmotional
Recurring Motifs
Family dysfunctionMother-child relationshipsIncest themesTrauma

Legacy

Contemporary American author renowned for her memoir The Kiss, which controversially detailed her incestuous affair with her father. Known for exploring family darkness and personal trauma in her novels and essays. Contributes to The New York Times Book Review.

Trivia

  • Her maternal grandmother was raised in Shanghai from the Sephardi Sassoon family.
  • Her grandfather trapped animals in the Northwest Territories and worked on the Alaska Railroad.