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Lisa Halliday

リサ・ハリデイ

Risa Haridei

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1976-07-12 (Medfield, Massachusetts)
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Medfield, Massachusetts → Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts → Manhattan, New York → Milan, Italy

Career

Occupations
Author, Novelist
Active Years
1997-2024
Affiliations
The Wylie Agency
Influenced By
Philip Roth

Education

Harvard University
Art history
Year of Graduation: 1998
Country: United States

Awards

Whiting Award
2017
Work: Asymmetry
Category: fiction
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Asymmetry

2018 Novel 288 pages

A two-part novel. The first part depicts the relationship between young Alice and an older renowned writer; the second follows Amar, an Iraqi-American detained at an airport. Explores asymmetry, power, and identity.

asymmetrypower dynamicsimmigrationidentity

Stump Louie

2005 Short story

Short story published in The Paris Review.

The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard 1997-1998

1997 Guidebook

Unofficial guide to life at Harvard.

Bibliography

  • Asymmetry
  • Stump Louie
  • The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard 1997-1998

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimentalpolished prosenon-linear structure
Recurring Motifs
asymmetryintercultural relationshipspersonal vs. societal conflicts

Legacy

Known for winning the Whiting Award, her debut novel Asymmetry was named among the best books of 2018 by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time, and others, and recommended by Barack Obama.

Trivia

  • First in her immediate family to attend college.
  • Her relationship with Philip Roth is believed to have inspired her novel.
  • Ancestry from Campania, Italy.