Author Bio
• Birth—1974
• Where—New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Yale University; M.F.A., Iowa Writers' Workshop
• Awards—numerous fellowships (see below)
• Currently—lives in New York City
Jennifer Vanderbes was born and raised in New York City and received her B.A. in English Literature from Yale University and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Her first published story, "The Hatbox", was selected by Tobias Wolff for inclusion in Best New American Voices 2000 and was hailed as "outstanding" by Publisher's Weekly: "The piece exhibits relaxed, old-fashioned storytelling reminiscent of W. Somerset Maugham."
Novels
Her first novel, Easter Island, was named a "best book of 2003" by the Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor and was translated into sixteen languages.
Her second novel, Strangers at the Feast (2010), was described by Library Journal as "an absorbing and suspenseful story about the dynamics of family, generational misunderstandings, and the desperate ways one copes with both the arbitrariness of fate and the consequences of one's choices."
Her third novel, The Secret of Raven Point (2014), received a starred review in Library Journal, which said, "Readers will fall in love with the delightful Juliet, who is a smart and courageous heroine....the only disappointing thing about this book is that it has to end."
Other writings
Her essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and The Atlantic, and her short fiction has appeared in Granta.
Her first play, Primating, about primatologists on a chimp reserve in Africa, was recently optioned by Jeffrey Richards Associates, the producers of August: Osage County and The Glass Menagerie.
She has taught creative writing at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Columbia University, the University of Tampa and the Colgate Writers' Conference.
Fellowships
Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, a Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowship, a Colgate University Creative Writing Fellowship, and a Truman Capote Fellowship. (Adapted from Wikipedia and the author's website. Retrieved 2/18/2014.)