Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 30 (2004) Winner
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
サラ・シュン・リエン・バイナム
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1972-02-14 （Houston, Texas, United States）
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Los Angeles, California (lives with husband and daughter)
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Novelist, Short story writer, Writing instructor
- Active Years
- 1998-
- Affiliations
- Otis College of Art and Design
- Nominations
- National Book Award (finalist, Madeleine is Sleeping, 2004), PEN/Faulkner Award (finalist, Ms. Hempel Chronicles, 2009)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown University | — | English | — | — | United States |
| University of Iowa Writers' Workshop (University of Iowa) | — | Creative writing | MFA | — | United States |
Brown University
English
Country:
United States
University of Iowa Writers' Workshop (University of Iowa)
Creative writing
Degree:
MFA
Country:
United States
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize | Madeleine is Sleeping | — | Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize (administering organization) | winner |
| 2005 | Whiting Award | — | Fiction | Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation | winner |
| 2020 | The Story Prize (finalist) | — | — | The Story Prize | finalist |
Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize
2004
Work:
Madeleine is Sleeping
Organization:
Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize (administering organization)
Result:
winner
Whiting Award
2005
Category:
Fiction
Organization:
Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation
Result:
winner
The Story Prize (finalist)
2020
Organization:
The Story Prize
Result:
finalist
Awards & Nominations
Whiting Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 21 (2005) Winner
The Story Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 17 (2020) Nominee
Works
Major Works
Madeleine is Sleeping
2004 Short story collection / FictionA collection of short stories that blends fairy-tale elements with unsettling everyday life. It explores memory, loss, and suburban anxieties with subtle, precise prose.
fairy talessuburban lifememory and losscoming-of-age and loneliness
Ms. Hempel Chronicles
2008 NovelFollows Ms. Hempel, a substitute teacher, as she reflects on her past and observes life in a middle-school classroom. The book combines nostalgia with finely drawn character observation.
education and the classroomnostalgiafragmented memorychildhood perspective
Bibliography
- Madeleine is Sleeping (short stories, 2004)
- Ms. Hempel Chronicles (novel, 2008)
- Short stories (appearing in The New Yorker, TriQuarterly, Gulf Coast, etc.)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- precise, quiet prosevoice-driven narrationrealistic depiction with embedded fairy-tale/fantastical elements
- Recurring Motifs
- the liminal space between wonder and darkness in fairy talesdistance between children and adultssuburban and domestic anxieties
Legacy
Critically acclaimed for blending fairy-tale elements with everyday unease. She established a distinct voice in early-21st-century American fiction and was named one of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40."
Quotes
-
They always walk that line between wonder and darkness.
Source: Interview with Asia Pacific Arts (2011) (2011)
Trivia
- Her brother is musician Taylor Ho Bynum.
- Taught in the MFA program at Otis College of Art and Design until 2015.
- Lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.
- Official website: www.sarahshunlienbynum.com