'Meaning and music in equal parts'

 

“Language in fiction is made up of equal parts meaning and music. The sentences should have rhythm and cadence, they should engage and delight the inner ear.” – Michael Cunningham

 

Born in Cincinnati, OH on this date in 1952, novelist and screenwriter Cunningham is best known for his novel The Hours, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award.  It also was made into a critically acclaimed movie for which Nicole Kidman won the Best Actress Academy Award.  

 

The author of 8 novels, including his newest Day – the story of three days in the life of a Brooklyn, NY family during the Covid pandemic – Cunningham started writing short stories while in graduate school at Iowa.  His first novel, Golden States, came out in 1984.  Still a writer of short stories, Cunningham has had several collections published, including the book, A Wild Swan and Other Tales.

 

Also a longtime writing teacher, he currently serves as Professor in the Practice of Creative Writing at Yale.  

 

“I think writing is, by definition, an optimistic act,” Cunningham said.  “As writers we must, from our very opening sentence, speak with authority to our readers.”