Catherine Ryan Hyde
Encyclopedia
Catherine Ryan Hyde is an American novelist and short story
writer. Her novels have enjoyed bestseller status in both the U.S. and U.K., and her short stories have won many awards and honors. Her book Pay It Forward was adapted into a movie
and her novel Electric God is currently in development.
She is founder and president of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University
, met with Americorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.
She lives in Cambria, California
. She identifies as a lesbian.
The movie Pay It Forward
(Warner Brothers) was released in 2000
, and starred Kevin Spacey
, Helen Hunt
and Haley Joel Osment
. The book has been translated into twenty languages for publication in more than thirty countries, and was chosen among the Best Books for Young Adults in 2001 by the American Library Association
. The paperback was released in 1999 by Pocket Books
and quickly became a national bestseller.
The April 20th, 2005 edition of Variety
announced that Nicolas Cage
has signed on to play Hayden Reese in the film adaptation of Electric God.
Two of her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. She received second place in the 1998 Bellingham Review Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction. Nearly a dozen of her stories have been nominated for Best American Short Stories
, The O’Henry Award, and The Pushcart Prize.
She is the author of a young adult novel that features a transgender character, who may have been based on Hyde's experience growing up as the sibling of transgender writer and activist Leslie Feinberg
. Feinberg disowned Hyde several decades ago along with other relatives due to the hostility and bigotry they felt was displayed by them, has criticized Hyde for her portrayal of transgender youth and has asked repeatedly not to be associated with Hyde or the publicity for the novel in part due to these misleading associations causing great distress to Leslie and Leslie's chosen family at a time of severe illness.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer. Her novels have enjoyed bestseller status in both the U.S. and U.K., and her short stories have won many awards and honors. Her book Pay It Forward was adapted into a movie
Pay It Forward
Pay It Forward is a 2000 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It was directed by Mimi Leder and written by Leslie Dixon...
and her novel Electric God is currently in development.
Life
She has served on the 1998 fiction fellowship panel of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and on the editorial staff of the Santa Barbara Review and Central Coast Magazine. She teaches workshops at the Santa Barbara, La Jolla, and Central Coast Writers Conferences.She is founder and president of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, met with Americorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.
She lives in Cambria, California
Cambria, California
Cambria is a seaside village located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the California State Route 1 . The name Cambria was settled upon in 1869 .It is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States...
. She identifies as a lesbian.
Career
Her work has appeared in The Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Sun, Ploughshares, and Glimmer Train.The movie Pay It Forward
Pay It Forward
Pay It Forward is a 2000 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It was directed by Mimi Leder and written by Leslie Dixon...
(Warner Brothers) was released in 2000
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
, and starred Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
, Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
and Haley Joel Osment
Haley Joel Osment
Haley Joel Osment is an American actor. After a series of roles in television and film during the 1990s, including a small part in Forrest Gump playing Tom Hanks' title character’s son, Osment rose to fame with his performance as Cole Sear in M...
. The book has been translated into twenty languages for publication in more than thirty countries, and was chosen among the Best Books for Young Adults in 2001 by the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
. The paperback was released in 1999 by Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
and quickly became a national bestseller.
The April 20th, 2005 edition of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
announced that Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
has signed on to play Hayden Reese in the film adaptation of Electric God.
Two of her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. She received second place in the 1998 Bellingham Review Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction. Nearly a dozen of her stories have been nominated for Best American Short Stories
Best American Short Stories
The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of The Best American Series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in contemporary American literature.-Edward O'Brien:The...
, The O’Henry Award, and The Pushcart Prize.
She is the author of a young adult novel that features a transgender character, who may have been based on Hyde's experience growing up as the sibling of transgender writer and activist Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg is a transgender queer and communist activist, speaker, and author. Feinberg's first novel Stone Butch Blues is widely considered a groundbreaking work about gender.- Career :...
. Feinberg disowned Hyde several decades ago along with other relatives due to the hostility and bigotry they felt was displayed by them, has criticized Hyde for her portrayal of transgender youth and has asked repeatedly not to be associated with Hyde or the publicity for the novel in part due to these misleading associations causing great distress to Leslie and Leslie's chosen family at a time of severe illness.
Works
External links
- Catherine Ryan Hyde's Official website
- Five Singing Gardeners and One Dead Stranger Short story by Catherine Ryan Hyde, nominated for Pushcart Prize
- "Diary of a Witness by Catherine Ryan Hyde", Bookslut, October 2009
- "Catherine Ryan Hyde", Red Room
- "Author Interview: Catherine Ryan Hyde! ", Review X, April 23, 2008