Annie Dillard

Annie Dillard
Born	Annie Doak (1945-04-30)April 30, 1945 Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Period	1974–present
Genre	Nonfiction fiction poetry
Notable works	Pilgrim at Tinker Creek The Maytrees
Notable awards	Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction 1975 –Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Spouse	Richard Dillard(1965–1975) Gary Clevidence (1976–1988) Robert D. Richardson(1988–2020)
Children	Cody Rose
Website
Official website

Annie Dillard(néeDoak;born April 30, 1945)is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 bookPilgrim at Tinker Creekwon the 1975Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.From 1980, Dillard taught for 21 years in the English department ofWesleyan University,inMiddletown, Connecticut.

Early life

Dillard was born April 30, 1945, inPittsburghto Frank and Pam Doak.She is the eldest of three daughters.

Early childhood details can be drawn from Annie Dillard's autobiography,An American Childhood(1987), about growing up in the 1950sPoint Breezeneighborhood ofPittsburghin "a house full of comedians."The book focuses on "waking up"from a self-absorbed childhood and becoming immersed in the present moment of the larger world. She describes her mother as an energetic non-conformist. Her father taught her many useful subjects such as plumbing, economics, and the intricacies of the novelOn the Road,though by the end of her adolescence she began to realize neither of her parents is infallible.

In her autobiography, Dillard describes reading a wide variety of subjects including geology, natural history, entomology, epidemiology, and poetry, among others. Among the influential books from her youth wereThe Natural Way to DrawandField Book of Ponds and Streamsbecause they allowed her a way to interact with the present moment and a way of escape, respectively. Her days were filled with exploring, piano and dance classes, rock collecting, bug collecting, drawing, and reading books from the public library includingnatural historyandmilitary historysuch as that ofWorld War II.

As a child, Dillard attended theShadyside Presbyterian Churchin Pittsburgh, though her parents did not attend.She spent four summers at the First Presbyterian Church (FPC) Camp inLigonier, Pennsylvania.As an adolescent, she stopped attending church, citing "hypocrisy." When she told her minister of her decision, she was given four volumes ofC. S. Lewis's broadcast talks, from which she appreciated that author's philosophy on suffering, but elsewhere found the topic inadequately addressed.

She attendedPittsburgh Public Schoolsuntil fifth grade, and thenThe Ellis Schooluntil college.

Education

Dillard attendedHollins CollegeinRoanoke, Virginia,where she studied English, theology, and creative writing.Dillard stated, "In college I learned how to learn from other people. As far as I was concerned, writing in college didn't consist of what little Annie had to say, but whatWallace Stevenshad to say. I didn't come to college to think my own thoughts, I came to learn what had been thought. "She received aBachelor of Artsdegree in 1967 and aMaster of Artsdegree in 1968.Her Master's thesis onHenry David Thoreaushowed howWalden Pondfunctioned as "the central image and focal point for Thoreau's narrative movement between heaven and earth."

Dillard spent the first few years after graduation oil painting, writing, and keeping a journal. Several of her poems and short stories were published, and during this time she also worked forLyndon B. Johnson'sAnti-Poverty Program.

From 1975 to 1978, Dillard was a scholar-in-residence atWestern Washington UniversityinBellingham, Washington.

Dillard has since receivedhonorary doctorate degreesfromBoston College,Connecticut College,and theUniversity of Hartford.

Career

Writing

Dillard's works have been compared to those byVirginia Woolf,Gerard Manley Hopkins,Emily Dickinson,William Blake,andJohn Donne,and she citesHenry James,Thomas Hardy,Graham Greene,George Eliot,andErnest Hemingwayamong her favorite authors.

Tickets for a Prayer Wheel(1974)

Main article:Tickets for a Prayer Wheel (poetry collection)

In her first book of poems,Tickets for a Prayer Wheel(1974), Dillard first articulated themes that she would later explore in other works of prose.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek(1974)

Main article:Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Dillard's journals served as a source forPilgrim at Tinker Creek(1974), anonfiction narrativeabout the natural world near her home in Roanoke, Virginia. Although the book contains named chapters, it is not (as some critics assumed) a collection of essays.Early chapters were published inThe Atlantic,Harpers,andSports Illustrated.The book describes God by studying creation, leading one critic to call her "one of the foremost horror writers of the 20th Century."InThe New York Times,Eudora Weltysaid the work was "admirable writing" that reveals "a sense of wonder so fearless and unbridled... [an] intensity of experience that she seems to live in order to declare," but "I honestly don't know what [Dillard] is talking about at... times."

The book won the 1975Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.Dillard was 28, making her the youngest woman to have won the award.

Holy the Firm(1977)

One day, Dillard decided to begin a project in which she would write about whatever happened onLummi Islandwithin a three-day time period. When a plane crashed on the second day, Dillard began to contemplate the problem of pain and God's allowance of "natural evil to happen."

AlthoughHoly the Firm(1977) was only 66 pages long, it took her 14 months, writing full-time, to complete the manuscript. InThe New York Times Book ReviewnovelistFrederick Buechnercalled it "a rare and precious book."Some critics wondered whether Dillard was under the influence ofhallucinogenic drugswhile writing the book. Dillard replied that she was not.

Teaching a Stone to Talk(1982)

Teaching a Stone to Talk(1982) is a book of 14 short nonfiction narrative andtravel essays.The essay "Life on the Rocks: The Galapagos" won theNew York Women's Press Clubaward, and "Total Eclipse" was chosen forBest American Essays of the [20th] Century(2000). As Dillard herself notes, "'The Weasel is lots of fun; the much-botched church service is (I think) hilarious."Following the first hardcover edition of the book, the order of essays was changed. Initially "Living Like Weasels" was first, followed by "An Expedition to the Pole." "Total Eclipse" was found between "On a Hill Far Away" and "Lenses."

The essays inTeaching a Stone to Talk:

• "Total Eclipse"
• "An Expedition to the Pole"
• "In the Jungle"
• "Living Like Weasels"
• "The Deer at Providencia"
• "Teaching a Stone to Talk"
• "On a Hill Far Away"
• "Lenses"
• "Life on the Rocks: The Galapagos"
• "A Field of Silence"
• "God in the Doorway"
• "Mirages"
• "Sojourner"
• "Aces and Eights"

Living by Fiction(1982)

InLiving by Fiction(1982), Dillard produced her "theory about why flattening of character and narrative cannot happen in literature as it did when the visual arts rejected deep space for the picture plane." She later said that, in the process of writing this book, she talked herself into writing an old-fashioned novel.

Encounters with Chinese Writers(1984)

Encounters with Chinese Writers(1984) is a work of journalism. One part takes place in China, where Dillard was a member of a delegation of six American writers and publishers, following the fall of theGang of Four.In the second half, Dillard hosts a group of Chinese writers, whom she takes toDisneylandalong withAllen Ginsberg.Dillard describes it as "hilarious."

The Writing Life(1989)

The Writing Life(1989) is a collection of short essays in which Dillard "discusses with clear eye and wry wit how, where and why she writes."The Boston Globecalled it "a kind of spiritualStrunk & White,a small and brilliant guidebook to the landscape of a writer's task. "TheChicago Tribunewrote that, "For nonwriters, it is a glimpse into the trials and satisfactions of a life spent with words. For writers, it is a warm, rambling conversation with a stimulating and extraordinarily talented colleague."The Detroit Newscalled it "a spare volume...that has the power and force of a detonating bomb."According to a biography of Dillard written by her husbandRobert D. Richardson,Dillard "repudiatesThe Writing Life,except for the last chapter, the true story of stunt pilotDave Rahm."

The Living(1992)

Main article:The Living (novel)

Dillard's first novel,The Living(1992), centers on the first European settlers of thePacific Northwestcoast. While writing the book, she never allowed herself to read works that postdated the year she was writing about, nor did she useanachronisticwords.

Mornings Like This(1995)

Mornings Like This(1995) is a book dedicated tofound poetry.Dillard took and arranged phrases from various old books, creating poems that are oftenironicin tone. The poems are not related to the original books' themes. "A good trick should look hard and be easy," said Dillard. "These poems were a bad trick. They look easy and are really hard."

For the Time Being(1999)

For the Time Being(1999) is a work ofnarrative nonfiction.Its topics mirror the various chapters of the book and include "birth, sand, China, clouds, numbers, Israel, encounters, thinker, evil, and now." In her own words on this book, she writes, "I quit the Catholic Church and Christianity; I stay near Christianity andHasidism."

The Maytrees(2007)

The Maytrees(2007) is Dillard's second novel. The story begins after World War II and tells of a lifelong love between a husband and wife who live inProvincetown,Cape Cod.It was a finalist for thePEN/Faulkner Award for Fictionin 2008.

The Abundance(2017)

The Abundance,a collection of essays curated by the author, was published in 2017.

Teaching

In 1975, Dillard moved to the Pacific Northwest and taught for four years atFairhaven CollegeandWestern Washington University.In 1980, she began teaching in the English department ofWesleyan UniversityinMiddletown, Connecticut,where she remained until she retiredProfessor Emeritain 2002.

Awards and honors

Dillard's books have been translated into at least 10 languages.Her 1975 Pulitzer-winning book,Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,made Random House's survey of the century's 100 best nonfiction books.TheLos Angeles Times'survey of the century's 100 best Western novels includesThe Living.The century's 100 best spiritual books (ed. Philip Zaleski) also includesPilgrim at Tinker Creek.The 100 best essays (ed. Joyce Carol Oates) includes "Total Eclipse," fromTeaching a Stone to Talk.The translators of two of Dillard's books—Sabine Porte and Pierre Gault—have won Maurice-Edgar Cointreau Prizes in France for their translations.Gault's translation ofPilgrim at Tinker CreekasPélerinage à Tinker Creekwon in 1999 and Porte's translation ofFor the Time BeingasAu Présentwon in 2002.

To celebrate its city's centennial in 1984, theBoston Symphonycommissioned Sir Michael Tippett to compose a symphony. He based part of its text onPilgrim at Tinker Creek.

In 1997, Dillard was inducted into theConnecticut Women's Hall of Famefor Writing and Journalism.

In 2000, Dillard'sFor the Time Beingreceived thePEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.

In 2005, artist Jenny Holzer usedAn American Childhood,along with three other books, in her light-based 'scrolling' artwork "For Pittsburgh," installed at theCarnegie Museum of Pittsburgh.

The New York TimesnamedMaytreesamong the top ten books published in 2007.

On September 10, 2015, Dillard was awarded aNational Humanities Medal.

Personal life

Relationships

In 1965, at age 20, Dillard married her creative writing professor,Richard Dillard.In 1975, they divorced amicably and she moved from Roanoke to Lummi Island nearBellingham, Washington.

In 1976, she married Gary Clevidence, an anthropology professor atFairhaven College,and they have a child, Cody Rose, born in 1984.Dillard and Clevidence remained married until 1988.

In 1988, Dillard married historical biographerRobert D. Richardson,whom she met after sending him a fan letter about his bookHenry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind.They were married until Richardson's death in 2020.

Religion

After college Dillard says she became "spiritually promiscuous." Her first prose book,Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,makes references not only toChristand theBible,but also toIslam,andJudaism,Buddhism,andInuitspirituality. Dillard for a while converted toRoman Catholicismaround 1988. This was described in detail in aNew York Timesoverview of her work in 1992.

In 1994, she won the Campion Award, given to a Catholic writer every year by the editors ofAmerica.In her 1999 book,For the Time Being,she describes her abandonment of Christianity, describing the supposed absurdity of some Christian doctrines, while stating she still stays near Christianity, and continuing to valorize Catholic writerTeilhard de Chardin.Her personal website lists her religion as "none."

Philanthropy

Sales of Dillard's paintings benefitPartners in Health,a Boston-based nonprofit international health organization founded by Dr.Paul Farmer.Dillard's art is available on her website.

Major works

• 1974Tickets for a Prayer WheelISBN0-8195-6536-9
• 1974Pilgrim at Tinker CreekISBN0-06-095302-0
• 1977Holy The FirmISBN0-06-091543-9
• 1982Living By FictionISBN0-06-091544-7
• 1982Teaching a Stone To TalkISBN0-06-091541-2
• 1984Encounters with Chinese WritersISBN0-8195-6156-8
• 1987An American ChildhoodISBN0-06-091518-8
• 1989The Writing LifeISBN0-06-091988-4
• 1992The LivingISBN0-06-092411-X
• 1995Mornings Like This: Found PoemsISBN0-06-092725-9
• 1999For the Time BeingISBN0-375-40380-9
• 2007The MaytreesISBN0-06-123953-4
• 2016The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old & NewISBN0-06-243297-4

Further reading

Johnson, Sandra Humble (1992).The Space Between: Literary Epiphany in the Work of Annie Dillard.Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.ISBN978-0-87338-446-9.OCLC23254581.

Parrish, Nancy C. (1998).Lee Smith, Annie Dillard, and the Hollins Group: A Genesis of Writers.Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.ISBN978-0-8071-2243-3.OCLC37884725.

Smith, Linda L. (1991).Annie Dillard.New York, NY: Twayne Publishers.ISBN0-8057-7637-0.OCLC23583395.

External links

• Official website
• NPR: Tsunami Commentary: Dots In Blue Water(Audio)
• The Washington Post:In Conversation With Annie Dillard
• Wonder Woman – The Epiphanies of Annie Dillard(Literary essay)
• Annie Dillard Papers.Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
• Review ofLiving by FictionThe Boston Phoenix
• Review ofTeaching a Stone to TalkThe Boston Phoenix