Hortense Calisher
Encyclopedia
Hortense Calisher was an American
writer of fiction.
, New York
, and a graduate of Hunter College High School
(1928) and Barnard College
(1932), Calisher was the daughter of a young German
Jewish immigrant mother and a somewhat older Jewish father from Virginia
whose family she described as "volcanic to meditative to fruitfully dull and bound to produce someone interested in character, society, and time".
, Charles Dickens
, Jane Austen
, and Henry James
. Critics generally considered Calisher a type of neo-realist
and often both condemned and praised for her extensive explorations of characters and their social worlds. Her writing was at odds with the prevailing minimalism
typical of fiction writing in the 1970s and 1980s that employed a spartan, non-romantic style without undue expressionism
.
, the worldwide association of writers, she was a National Book Award
finalist three times, won an O. Henry Award
(for "The Night Club in the Woods") and the 1986 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize (for The Bobby Soxer), and was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships in 1952 and 1955.
. She was survived by her husband, Curtis Harnack, and her son from her previous marriage, Peter Heffelfinger. Calisher was predeceased by her daughter, Bennet Heffelfinger.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer of fiction.
Personal life
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and a graduate of Hunter College High School
Hunter College High School
Hunter College High School is a New York City secondary school for intellectually gifted students located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It is administered by Hunter College, a senior college of the City University of New York. Although it is not operated by the New York City Department of...
(1928) and Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
(1932), Calisher was the daughter of a young German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Jewish immigrant mother and a somewhat older Jewish father from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
whose family she described as "volcanic to meditative to fruitfully dull and bound to produce someone interested in character, society, and time".
Writing style
Calisher involved her closely investigated, penetrating characters in complicated plotlines that unfold with shocks and surprises in allusive, nuanced language with a distinctively elegiac voice, sometimes compared with Eudora WeltyEudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...
, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
, and Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
. Critics generally considered Calisher a type of neo-realist
Neorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...
and often both condemned and praised for her extensive explorations of characters and their social worlds. Her writing was at odds with the prevailing minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
typical of fiction writing in the 1970s and 1980s that employed a spartan, non-romantic style without undue expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
.
Honors and awards
A past president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and of PENInternational PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
, the worldwide association of writers, she was a National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
finalist three times, won an O. Henry Award
O. Henry Award
The O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American master of the form, O. Henry....
(for "The Night Club in the Woods") and the 1986 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize (for The Bobby Soxer), and was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships in 1952 and 1955.
Death
Calisher died at the age of 97 on January 13, 2009, in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. She was survived by her husband, Curtis Harnack, and her son from her previous marriage, Peter Heffelfinger. Calisher was predeceased by her daughter, Bennet Heffelfinger.
Fiction
- In the Absence of Angels (1951)
- False Entry (1961)
- Tale for the Mirror (1962)
- Textures of Life, (1963)
- Extreme Magic (1964)
- Journey from Ellipsia (1966)
- The Railway Police, and The Last Trolley Ride (1966)
- The New Yorkers (1970)
- Standard Dreaming (1972)
- Eagle Eye (1973)
- Queenie (1973)
- The Collected Stories of Hortense Calisher (1975)
- On Keeping Women (1977)
- Mysteries of Motion (1983)
- Saratoga Hot (1985)
- The Bobby-Soxer (1986)
- Age (1987)
- Kissing Cousins: A Memory (1988)
- The Small Bang (under the pseudonym of Jack Fenno) (1992)
- In the Palace of the Movie King (1993)
- In the Slammer with Carol Smith (1997)
- The Novellas of Hortense Calisher (1997)
- Sunday Jews (2003)