American writer, translator, academic (born 1968)
Laird Hunt
(born April 3, 1968) is a
Singapore
-born
American
writer
,
translator
, and
academic
.
Early life and education
[
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]
Laird Hunt was born on April 3, 1968, in
Singapore
. His father was an American banker who moved along with his family in various places such as
Amsterdam
,
London
, and elsewhere. After his parents divorced, Hunt was sent to live with his grandmother in
Indiana
, where he went to the
Clinton Central High School
.
[1]
He earned a
B.A.
from
Indiana University
and a
Master of Fine Arts
in
Creative Writing
from the
Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics
at
Naropa University
. He studied
French literature
at the
Sorbonne
.
Academia
[
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]
He was for a time a professor in the Creative Writing program at
University of Denver
. He currently teaches in
Brown University
’s
Literary Arts Program
.
Writing
[
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]
Hunt is the author of eight novels and a collection of short work, including the 2021
National Book Award
finalist
Zorrie
. He has translated several novels from the
French
, including Oliver Rohe's
Vacant Lot
(2010) and Stuart Merrill's
Paul Verlaine
(2010).
His works is said to intersect several genres, including experimental literature, exploratory fiction, literary noir, speculative fiction and difficult fiction
[2]
[3]
and include elements ranging from the bizarre, the tragic, and the comic.
His influences include
Georges Perec
,
W. G. Sebald
,
Samuel Beckett
,
Franz Kafka
and the French Modernists.
[4]
[5]
While working on his first novel, Hunt worked in the press office at the
United Nations
.
Hunt's reviews and
essays
have been published in the
New York Times
, the
Washington Post
, the
Wall Street Journal
, the
Daily Beast
,
The Guardian
, the
Irish Times
, and the
Los Angeles Times
. His fiction and translations have appeared in literary journals such as
Conjunctions
,
McSweeney's
,
Bomb
,
Ploughshares
,
Bookforum
,
The Believer
,
Fence
,
and Zoetrope. For a time, Hunt was editor in the
Denver Quarterly
.
Film adaptations
[
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]
In 2014, it was announced by
Element Pictures
that Irish director
Lenny Abrahamson
would film an adaptation of Hunt's Civil War novel
Neverhome
,
[6]
[7]
but the project did not materialize.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Hunt lives in
Providence, Rhode Island
with his wife
Eleni Sikelianos
, a
poet
and the grand-grand-daughter of Greek poet
Angelos Sikelianos
, and their daughter Eva.
Awards and honors
[
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]
Works
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Ruland, Jim (January 2010).
"An Interview with Laird Hunt (part 1)"
.
Hobart Another Literary Journal
. Archived from
the original
on April 14, 2012
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Kamine, Mark (2005).
"In Defense of Difficulty"
.
The Believer
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Ruland, Jim (February 2010).
"An Interview with Laird Hunt (part 2)"
.
Hobart Another Literary Journal
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Tiffany, Matthew (September 2009).
"Ray of The Star by Laird Hunt"
.
The Quarterly Conversation
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Kamine, Mark (November 2005).
"In Defense of Difficulty"
.
The Believer
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Murphy, Niall (September 24, 2014).
"Irish Film: Lenny Abrahamson to adapt Laird Hunt's Neverhome"
. Scannain
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Kirby, Ben (September 25, 2014).
"Lenny Abrahamson Heads For Neverhome"
.
Empire
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Conners, Joanna (2013-04-24).
"Writer Wole Soyinka intends to be in Cleveland for Anisfield-Wolf award later this year"
.
The Plain Dealer
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Kellogg, Carolyn (2013-03-06).
"2013 PEN/Faulkner Award finalists announced"
.
The Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Anne-Laure Walter (November 8, 2017).
"Laird Hunt, premier laureat du Grand prix de litterature americaine"
.
Livres Hebdo
(in French)
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
"National Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced"
.
Books+Publishing
. 2021-10-06
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
"Announcements ? John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation…"
. 15 May 2024. Archived from
the original
on 15 May 2024.
- ^
Schneiderman, Davis (2013-05-25).
The &Now Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing
.
ISBN
978-0982315644
.
- ^
Burnside, John (5 May 2017).
"The Evening Road by Laird Hunt (review) ? The Banality of Evil"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
.
- ^
Ivey, Eowyn (25 October 2018).
"In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt (review) ? A Dark, Dark Take on Our Most Precious Fairy Tales"
.
The New York Times Book Review
. Retrieved
April 15,
2023
– via The New York Times.
External links
[
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]
Interviews
[
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]
- Weekend Edition
, November 13, 2021
- Transatlantica
, December 2021
- Harvard Bookstore
, February 2021
- The Millions
, March 17, 2017
- Issuu
, February 11, 2016
- Bookforum
, January 18, 2013
- Hobart (Part One)
, January 1, 2010
- Hobart (Part Two)
, February 1, 2010
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