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Nicole Krauss

ニコール・クラウス

Nikōru Kurausu

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1974-08-18 （Manhattan, New York City, US）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Long Island (grew up) → Manhattan (birth) → Geneva (boarding school) → London (studies) → Brooklyn, New York (residence)

Career

Occupations
novelist, short story writer, essayist
Active Years
1999-
Affiliations
American Academy in Berlin (Distinguished Visitor)
Influenced By
Joseph Brodsky, Italo Calvino, Zbigniew Herbert

Education

Stanford University
School of Humanities / English
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1992–1996
Year of Graduation: 1996
Country: United States
Won undergraduate poetry prizes; worked with Joseph Brodsky
Somerville College, Oxford
Graduate / Art history (graduate)
Degree: Master's (Marshall Scholar)
Period: 1996–1998
Year of Graduation: 1998
Country: United Kingdom
Marshall Scholar; wrote thesis on Joseph Cornell
Courtauld Institute of Art
Graduate / Art History
Degree: Master's
Period: 1997–1999
Year of Graduation: 1999
Country: United Kingdom
Specialized in 17th‑century Dutch art; wrote a thesis on Rembrandt

Awards

Wingate Literary Prize
2022
Work: To Be a Man (short story collection)
Organization: Wingate Foundation
Result: winner
Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature
2021
Category: Inspiration Award
Organization: Sami Rohr Foundation
Result: recipient
Anisfield‑Wolf Book Award
2011
Work: Great House
Organization: Anisfield‑Wolf Foundation
Result: winner
William Saroyan International Prize for Writing
2008
Work: The History of Love
Organization: Stanford University (presented)
Result: winner
Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger
2006
Work: The History of Love
Organization: French awarding body
Result: winner
Edward Lewis Wallant Award
2005
Work: The History of Love
Organization: Wallant Foundation
Result: winner
National Book Award (Fiction)
2010
Work: Great House
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: finalist
Orange Prize for Fiction
2006
Work: The History of Love
Organization: Orange Prize organization
Result: shortlist
Orange Prize for Fiction
2011
Work: Great House
Organization: Orange Prize organization
Result: shortlist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Man Walks into a Room

2002 Novel (literary fiction)

A meditation on memory and personal identity centering on a man who loses years of lived memory while retaining cognitive function.

memoryidentitysolitude

The History of Love

2005 Novel (literary fiction)

Interwoven stories about love, loss and memory following Leo Gursky, an elderly Holocaust survivor, and Alma Singer, connected by a lost manuscript titled The History of Love.

Jewish historylosslanguage and communication
Adaptations
  • [Film] The History of Love / Radu Mihăileanu (2016)
Translations
  • Translated into more than 35 languages

Great House

2010 Novel (postmodern)

Connects several characters through a large desk with many drawers, exploring memory, ownership and the traces objects leave in lives.

memorypossessionfragmented narrative

Forest Dark

2017 Novel (experimental, postmodern)

A layered tale of two lives that blurs the line between author and character, questioning identity, belonging and the nature of fiction.

selfautobiography vs fictionJewish mysticism

To Be a Man

2020 Short story collection

A collection of short stories examining interior lives and human relationships.

masculinitymemorydesire and loss

Bibliography

  • Man Walks into a Room (2002)
  • The History of Love (2005)
  • Great House (2010)
  • Forest Dark (2017)
  • To Be a Man (short story collection, 2020)

Adaptations

  • The History of Love (film, 2016)

Translations of Works

  • Multiple works translated into more than 35 languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
fragmented, layered narrationuse of metafictionpoetic and lyrical prose
Recurring Motifs
memory and lossloneliness and connectionJewish history and identity

Legacy

Nicole Krauss is an important contemporary voice in anglophone literature, acclaimed for works that explore memory, identity and the limits of language. She has received and been shortlisted for multiple international awards and her books have been widely translated.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy in Berlin (Distinguished Visitor)

In Popular Culture

  • Film adaptation of The History of Love (2016)

Quotes

  • “In a sense, the self is more or less an invention from beginning to end.”
    Source: Interview with The Guardian (2017) (2017)

Trivia

  • The History of Love has been translated into more than 35 languages.
  • Studied poetry at Stanford and worked with Joseph Brodsky as an undergraduate.
  • Won the Wingate Literary Prize for To Be a Man.