O. Henry Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 41 (1961) Winner
Tillie Lerner Olsen
ティリー・オルセン
Tillie Olsen
Pen Names:
Tillie Lerner（Maiden name used early in her career）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1912-01-14 （Wahoo, Nebraska, U.S.）
- Died
- 2007-01-01 （Oakland, California, U.S.） age 94
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Judaism
- Residence History
- Wahoo, Nebraska (birthplace) → Omaha, Nebraska (childhood and youth) → San Francisco, California (longtime residence) → Berkeley, California (late life) → Oakland, California (place of death)
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Activist, Union organizer, Teacher (visiting positions)
- Active Years
- 1930-2007
- Influenced By
- Rebecca Harding Davis, Early-20th-century American labor movement and leftist writers
- Influenced
- Margaret Atwood (noted in reviews), Later feminist writers and American short story writers
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha Central High School (did not graduate) | — | — | — | 1920年代（中途退学） | United States |
Omaha Central High School (did not graduate)
Period:
1920年代（中途退学）
Country:
United States
Left high school at age 15 to enter the workforce
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | O. Henry Award (short story) | Tell Me a Riddle (title story) | — | O. Henry Award committee | 受賞 |
| 1975 | Distinguished Contributions to American Literature Award | — | — | American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters | 受賞 |
| 1994 | Rea Award for the Short Story | For lifetime achievement in short fiction | — | Rea Award committee | 受賞 |
| — | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | フェローシップ |
| — | Honorary degrees (nine) | — | — | Various universities | 授与 |
O. Henry Award (short story)
1961
Work:
Tell Me a Riddle (title story)
Organization:
O. Henry Award committee
Result:
受賞
Distinguished Contributions to American Literature Award
1975
Organization:
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Result:
受賞
Rea Award for the Short Story
1994
Work:
For lifetime achievement in short fiction
Organization:
Rea Award committee
Result:
受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
フェローシップ
Honorary degrees (nine)
Organization:
Various universities
Result:
授与
Awards & Nominations
American Book Awards
2 appearances
-
Edition 22 (2001) Winner
-
Edition 22 (2001) Lifetime Achievement Award
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 22 (2001) Winner
Works
Major Works
Tell Me a Riddle
1961 Short story collection (includes a novella) 128 pagesA collection of four linked short stories focusing on members of a family. The title novella tells of an elderly Jewish immigrant couple facing illness and death; other stories examine motherhood, race, and working-class life.
MotherhoodImmigrant experienceWorking-class lifeSilence and voice
Yonnondio: From the Thirties
1974 Novel (unfinished work from the 1930s, published later) 256 pagesAn unfinished novel begun in the 1930s about a working-class family; later edited and published in the 1970s, addressing poverty, labor struggles, and family life.
Labor movementPovertyFamily fragmentation
Silences
1978 Non-fiction; literary criticism 160 pagesEssays analyzing the causes of writers' silences, including effects of childrearing, household labor, and economic constraints on women writers; includes a study of Rebecca Harding Davis.
Women's silenceWriters' isolationFeminism
Mothers & Daughters: That Special Quality
1987 Photography and essays 96 pagesA photographic exploration with essays on the special quality of mother-daughter relationships.
Family relationshipsMotherhood
Bibliography
- Tell Me a Riddle (1961)
- Yonnondio: From the Thirties (1974)
- Silences (1978)
- Mothers & Daughters: That Special Quality (1987)
- Tell Me a Riddle, Requa I and Other Works (2013)
Adaptations
- Tillie Olsen: A Heart in Action (documentary)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Compressed, poetic proseRealist depictionUse of interior monologue
- Recurring Motifs
- Motherhood and childrearingSilence / absence of voiceWorking-class lifeImmigrant experience
Legacy
Despite a relatively small output, she had a major impact on feminist literature and depictions of working-class life by addressing the problem of women's 'silences.' Her teaching, honorary degrees, and awards secured her a lasting place in American literature.
Academic Societies
- American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (noted for award)
Archives
- Stanford University Special Collections (Tillie Olsen Papers)
In Popular Culture
- Documentary film 'Tillie Olsen: A Heart in Action' (2007)
Quotes
-
"I saw the people, I saw the look on their faces. And it is the look that will be there the days of the revolution. I saw the fists clenched till the knuckles were white, and people standing, staring, saying nothing, letting it clamp into their hearts, hurt them so the scar would be there forever—a swelling that would never let them lull."
Source: Commentary on the San Francisco General Strike (1934) (1934)
Trivia
- Born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents.
- Left high school at 15 to work.
- Won the O. Henry Award in 1961 for the title story of Tell Me a Riddle.
- Recorded her work at the Library of Congress in 1996.
- Received nine honorary degrees during her lifetime.