Feisty Female Friday: Ann Patchett

The FFF this week is Ann Patchett.

Ann was born in CA and is an author whose books often portray the intersecting lives of characters from very different backgrounds, their human connections, family dynamics, and resilience of all people.
Her first work of fiction was published while she was an undergraduate. Ann has since held numerous writing positions at major colleges and universities. Though she was widely published as a short story writer and essayist, she soon became well-known for her novels. Among them are The Patron Saint of Liars and The Magicians, which were adapted as a television movies.
Her first full-length volume of nonfiction writing included stories about medical ethics, mortality, the effects of divorce, and family dynamics. She is the editor of the anthology The Best American Short Stories and has published State of Wonder and Commonwealth to widespread critical acclaim. In addition to her writing, she and she is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville and has expanded her store to include a traveling book van. Ann has also published children's books and essays.

Ann encourages people to slow down and contemplate, sitting quietly and to concentrate on one thing for long periods of time especially as they live their lives and possibly embark on their writing journey. She does not watch television or have a cell phone and participates in no social media. Her works has been translated into more than 30 languages.

She has also written for the New Yorker, Washington Post, ELLE, Gourmet, and Vogue. Her awards include the TN Writer of the Year Award, The Kafka and The Orange Prize, Booksense Book of the Year, PEN/Faulkner, Kenyon Review, Carl Sandburg Literary, and PEN/Audible Literary Service Awards, National Humanities Medal, Welcome Trust Book Prize, and Guggenheim Fellowship. Ann is an ambassador for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and has been recognized on the Time Magazine’s 100 list as one of the most influential people in the world.

She was recently censored by schools in FL and said that her books should be required reading for all students given some of the state’s policies about sex and guns.

Ann lives today in Nashville with her husband and dog and remains a widely popular US author who is a strong advocate for independent bookstores. She also provides free books and sends authors to schools in TN through her Parnassus Foundation to encourage reading among all children.