Janet Fitch
Encyclopedia
Janet Fitch is most famously known as the author
of the Oprah's Book Club
novel
White Oleander
, which became a film in 2002
. She is a graduate of Reed College
, located in Portland, Oregon
.
Janet Fitch was born in Los Angeles
, a third-generation native, and grew up in a family of voracious readers. As an undergraduate at Reed College
, Fitch had decided to become an historian, attracted to its powerful narratives, the scope of events, the colossal personalities, and the potency and breadth of its themes. But when she won a student exchange to Keele University
in England
, where her passion for Russian history led her, she awoke in the middle of the night on her twenty-first birthday with the revelation she wanted to write fiction .
Janet Fitch is a faculty member in the Master of Professional Writing Program
at the University of Southern California
, where she teaches fiction.
Some of her favorite authors include Fyodor Dostoevsky
and Edgar Allan Poe
.
Her third novel, Paint It Black, named after the Rolling Stones song of the same name
, was published in September 2006. The movie version is in the works.
She is currently working on her latest novel, which is due next Spring.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of the Oprah's Book Club
Oprah's Book Club
Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new novel for viewers to read and discuss each month. The Club ended its 15-year run, along with...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
White Oleander
White Oleander
White Oleander is a 1999 novel by American author Janet Fitch. It is a coming-of-age story about a child who is separated from her mother and placed in a series of foster homes. The book was a selection by Oprah's Book Club in May 1999 and became a 2002 film.-Plot summary:Astrid Magnussen is a...
, which became a film in 2002
White Oleander (2002 film)
White Oleander is a 2002 American drama film directed by Peter Kosminsky. The cast features Alison Lohman in the central role of Astrid Magnussen, and Michelle Pfeiffer as her temperamental mother Ingrid, alongside Renée Zellweger, Robin Wright Penn, Billy Connolly and Patrick Fugit in supporting...
. She is a graduate of Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, located in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Janet Fitch was born in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, a third-generation native, and grew up in a family of voracious readers. As an undergraduate at Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, Fitch had decided to become an historian, attracted to its powerful narratives, the scope of events, the colossal personalities, and the potency and breadth of its themes. But when she won a student exchange to Keele University
Keele University
Keele University is a campus university near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study, Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours degree in Britain...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where her passion for Russian history led her, she awoke in the middle of the night on her twenty-first birthday with the revelation she wanted to write fiction .
Janet Fitch is a faculty member in the Master of Professional Writing Program
Master of Professional Writing Program
The Master of Professional Writing Program is a graduate creative writing program which offers a variety of courses at the University of Southern California's College of Letters, Arts & Sciences....
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, where she teaches fiction.
Some of her favorite authors include Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
and Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
.
Her third novel, Paint It Black, named after the Rolling Stones song of the same name
Paint It, Black
"Paint It, Black" is a song released by The Rolling Stones on 13 May 1966 as the first single from their fourth album Aftermath. It was originally titled "Paint It Black" without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca.The song was written by Mick...
, was published in September 2006. The movie version is in the works.
She is currently working on her latest novel, which is due next Spring.
Books
- Kicks (Fawcett Books, 1996)
- White OleanderWhite OleanderWhite Oleander is a 1999 novel by American author Janet Fitch. It is a coming-of-age story about a child who is separated from her mother and placed in a series of foster homes. The book was a selection by Oprah's Book Club in May 1999 and became a 2002 film.-Plot summary:Astrid Magnussen is a...
(Little, Brown, 1999) - Paint It BlackPaint it Black (novel)Paint It Black is the third novel by American author Janet Fitch.-Background:Janet Fitch's third novel was originally planned to be a lengthy historical novel...
(Little, Brown, 2006)
