World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Marianne Wiggins

マリアンヌ・ウィギンズ

Marianne Wiggins

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1947-11-08 （Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
London, United Kingdom — lived there for 16 years → Paris, France — brief periods → Brussels, Belgium — brief periods → Rome, Italy — brief periods → Los Angeles, California, U.S. (current)

Career

Occupations
Author
Active Years
1975-
Affiliations
University of Southern California, English Department (since 2005)
Nominations
National Book Award (Finalist) — 2003, Pulitzer Prize (Fiction, Finalist) — 2004

Awards

Whiting Award
1989
Organization: The Whiting Foundation
Result: winner
Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize
1989
Work: John Dollar
Organization: Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize committee
Result: winner
National Endowment for the Arts Award
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Result: recipient
Commonwealth Club Book Awards (Gold Medal, Fiction)
2004
Work: Evidence of Things Unseen
Category: フィクション
Organization: Commonwealth Club
Result: winner (Gold Medal)

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Babe

1975 Fiction

The story of a single mother; an early novel.

motherhoodlonelinesseveryday survival

Went South

1980 Fiction

Novel published in 1980. Detailed synopsis limited.

movementchange

Separate Checks

1984 Short stories / Fiction

A collection including a story about a short-story writer recovering from a nervous breakdown.

recoverycreativitypersonal struggle

John Dollar

1989 Fiction

Story of eight girls marooned on an island; examines dynamics of power and survival among them.

survivalgroup psychologyfemale relationships

Eveless Eden

1995 Fiction / Romance

A romance between a war correspondent and a photographer; the story is said to have been suggested by then-husband Salman Rushdie.

warlovejournalism

Almost Heaven

1998 Fiction

Novel published in 1998. Detailed synopsis limited.

human relationshipspersonal exploration

Evidence of Things Unseen

2003 Historical fiction / Fiction

Depicts the dawn of the atomic age through the eyes of Fos, an amateur chemist in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and Opal, a glassblower's daughter. Finalist for the 2003 National Book Award and 2004 Pulitzer Prize.

science and ethicsAmerican historyindividual perspective

The Shadow Catcher

2007 Fiction / Biographical fiction

A dual narrative threading the early life of photographer Edward Curtis with the contemporary life of a character named 'Marianne Wiggins.'

photographyhistoryself and other

Properties of Thirst

2022 Fiction

A novel completed after Marianne Wiggins recovered abilities lost in a 2016 stroke; finished over several years with assistance from her daughter.

recoverymemoryfamily

Bibliography

  • Babe (1975)
  • Went South (1980)
  • Separate Checks (1984)
  • Herself in Love and Other Stories (short stories, 1987)
  • John Dollar (1989)
  • Bet They'll Miss Us When We're Gone (1991)
  • Eveless Eden (1995)
  • Almost Heaven (1998)
  • Evidence of Things Unseen (2003)
  • The Shadow Catcher (2007)
  • Properties of Thirst (2022)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
bold intelligencean ear for hidden comedysensitive interior characterization
Recurring Motifs
female relationshipsisolation vs. communityscience/history and personal ethics

Health

  • stroke
    2016
    Suffered a stroke in 2016 that temporarily left her unable to read or write; she recovered and later completed a novel with assistance.

Legacy

Marianne Wiggins is praised for her intelligent, subtly comic style and works that explore various female perspectives and historical themes. She has received awards and nominations and has had a lasting presence in English-language literature.

Quotes

  • "I have lived a really interesting life. I haven't lived it so I can excavate material for my writing. I'm a novelist. I don't have those muscles. It's not about me. It's about what I've imagined. It's the universal voice that I want to move forward."
    Source: Interview with Pamela J. Johnson (July 2006) (2006)

Trivia

  • Married Brian Porzak in 1965, had one daughter, divorced in 1970.
  • Married Salman Rushdie in 1988; went into hiding with him after the 1989 fatwa; divorced in 1993.
  • Won the Whiting Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize in 1989.
  • Finalist for the 2003 National Book Award and the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for Evidence of Things Unseen.
  • Suffered a stroke in 2016 that temporarily impaired reading and writing; later recovered and completed Properties of Thirst (2022).
  • Associated with the University of Southern California English department since 2005.