Providing readers with 'a sound and a voice'

 

“I don't think there was a particular book that made me want to write. They all did.   I always wanted to write.” – Elizabeth Strout

 

Strout, who was born in Maine on this date in 1956, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Olive Kitteridge, a terrific collection of connected short stories about a woman and her immediate family and friends living on the coast of Maine.  The book also was made into a multiple award-winning HBO series.

 

Of course that’s not all this gifted New Englander has produced since she had her first short story published in 1982.   A small town product, she mostly grew up in New Hampshire and Maine where her father was a science professor and her mother – who she said was a great inspiration for her writing – taught high school. 

 

Strout has spent most of her writing years in New York City, although she and husband James Tierney split their time between NYC and Maine where he is the former Attorney General.  She’s now authored 10 bestselling novels, including the international sensation My Name is Lucy Barton.  Her latest (just out in 2024) is Tell Me Everything.

 

“I'm writing for my ideal reader, for somebody who's willing to take the time, who's willing to get lost in a new world, who's willing to do their part,” she said of her award-winning work.  “But then I have to do my part and give them a sound and a voice that they believe in enough to keep going.”