Ginger Strand
Encyclopedia
Ginger Strand is a New York-based novel
ist, environmental writer, and an amateur historian. Her 2005
debut novel
Flight was adapted from several of her short stories. Her second book was non-fiction, Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies. It was released in May 2008.
. Her family moved often while her father served in the Air National Guard
. Throughout her childhood, she lived in Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Her father later worked as a commercial airline pilot for TWA
for 35 years. Strand is a 1992 graduate from Princeton University
. She has a daughter and lives in New York City
. She teaches environmental criticism at Fordham University
, and teaches writing at the 92nd Street Y
.
Her fiction and essays have appeared in The Believer
, Harper's, The Iowa Review
, The Gettysburg Review
, and The Carolina Quarterly. Strand has received residency grants from the MacDowell Colony
, Yaddo
, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
, and the American Antiquarian Society
, as well as a Tennessee Williams
scholarship in fiction from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. She is a contributing editor at Orion
. Strand is also a former fellow in the Behrman Center for the Humanities at Princeton University
.
Strand is also an environmental writer. She has been critical of Google
’s environmental policies. In a November 2006 New York Times story, she talks about her personal difficulty in being eco-conscious.
She lists her obsessions as water, ancient Rome
, infrastructure, SuperFund
, airplanes, silent film
, panopticon
s, P. T. Barnum
, photography, lies, the 1930s, Niagara Falls
, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Edward Wormley
, consumerism
and rhinoceros
es, especially one named Clara who lived in the 18th century.
in May 2005. Strand considered herself a short story writer. Her agent Nat Sobel convinced her in April 2003 that a manuscript of short stories could become a novel. Strand responded, "I shuddered. I was no novelist. I was a minimalist, a votress of the goddess of gesture, a worshipper at the altar of the succinct. I was a short story writer." Four months later, she completed Flight.
Strand describes Flight as “the echoes and overlaps of four voices.” The Gruens are a Midwestern family in the midst of private dramas. The story takes places in the days leading up to a wedding in rural Michigan. Father Will, an aging airline pilot, is reluctant to retire and troubled by memories of Vietnam
. Mother Carol, long-sufferer of Will’s whims, is intent on opening her very own “country-themed” bed-and-breakfast despite her disdain for things rustic. Elder daughter Margaret, a history professor, is entangled in an “open marriage.” And younger daughter Leanne, bride-to-be and owner of a “high-end craft store,” is a recovering alcoholic.
Her second book was nonfiction, Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, Lies, and published by Simon & Schuster
in early 2008. The book takes a cultural history of natural wonder at Niagara Falls
. Strand writes about how Niagara Falls has influenced America's history and environment.
In researching her second book, Strand used handbills, guidebooks, travelogues
, treaties, and images in the society's collections. The book chronicles Strands' fascination with infrastructure
, which she calls "a culture’s dream made visible.”
Inventing Niagara received positive reviews in the New York Times Book Review,
Newsweek, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. The LA Times criticized it as overwrought with irrelevant details. The book was a finalist for the 2008 Orion Magazine Book Award and was picked as one of summer 2008's best non-fiction books by Fresh Air
on NPR
.
(1) http://www.pw.org/content/perils_writing_close_home_truth_vs_fiction
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....
ist, environmental writer, and an amateur historian. Her 2005
2005 in literature
The year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 25 - Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation....
debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
Flight was adapted from several of her short stories. Her second book was non-fiction, Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies. It was released in May 2008.
Biography
Ginger Strand grew up mostly on a farm in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Her family moved often while her father served in the Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
. Throughout her childhood, she lived in Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Her father later worked as a commercial airline pilot for TWA
Twa
The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....
for 35 years. Strand is a 1992 graduate from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. She has a daughter and lives in New York City
New 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...
. She teaches environmental criticism at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, and teaches writing at the 92nd Street Y
92nd Street Y
92nd Street Y is a multifaceted cultural institution and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, at the corner of E. 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Its full name is 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association...
.
Her fiction and essays have appeared in The Believer
The Believer (magazine)
The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...
, Harper's, The Iowa Review
The Iowa Review
The Iowa Review is an American literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews.Founded in 1970, this magazine is issued three times a year, during the months of April, August, and December. Originally, it was released on a quarterly basis. This frequency of publication lasted...
, The Gettysburg Review
The Gettysburg Review
The Gettysburg Review is a quarterly literary magazine featuring short stories, poetry, essays and reviews. Work appearing in the magazine often is reprinted in "best-of" anthologies and receives awards....
, and The Carolina Quarterly. Strand has received residency grants from the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is an artists’ community in Amherst, Virginia, USA. Since 1971, VCCA has offered residencies of two weeks to two months for international artists, writers, and composers at its working retreat in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains...
, and the American Antiquarian Society
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society , located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and national research library of pre-twentieth century American History and culture. Its main building, known also as Antiquarian Hall, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark...
, as well as a Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
scholarship in fiction from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. She is a contributing editor at Orion
Orion (magazine)
Orion is a bimonthly, advertisement-free, magazine focused on nature, the environment, and culture, addressing environmental and societal issues....
. Strand is also a former fellow in the Behrman Center for the Humanities at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Strand is also an environmental writer. She has been critical of Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
’s environmental policies. In a November 2006 New York Times story, she talks about her personal difficulty in being eco-conscious.
She lists her obsessions as water, ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, infrastructure, SuperFund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
, airplanes, silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
, panopticon
Panopticon
The Panopticon is a type of building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched...
s, P. T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
, photography, lies, the 1930s, Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Edward Wormley
Edward Wormley
Edward Wormley was born in 1907 in Rochelle, Illinois, and died in 1995. In 1926 he went to study briefly at the Art Institute of Chicago. Funds ran out and he went to work as an interior designer for Marshall Fields & Company department store...
, consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
and rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
es, especially one named Clara who lived in the 18th century.
Books
Strand's debut novel, Flight, was published by Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
in May 2005. Strand considered herself a short story writer. Her agent Nat Sobel convinced her in April 2003 that a manuscript of short stories could become a novel. Strand responded, "I shuddered. I was no novelist. I was a minimalist, a votress of the goddess of gesture, a worshipper at the altar of the succinct. I was a short story writer." Four months later, she completed Flight.
Strand describes Flight as “the echoes and overlaps of four voices.” The Gruens are a Midwestern family in the midst of private dramas. The story takes places in the days leading up to a wedding in rural Michigan. Father Will, an aging airline pilot, is reluctant to retire and troubled by memories of Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Mother Carol, long-sufferer of Will’s whims, is intent on opening her very own “country-themed” bed-and-breakfast despite her disdain for things rustic. Elder daughter Margaret, a history professor, is entangled in an “open marriage.” And younger daughter Leanne, bride-to-be and owner of a “high-end craft store,” is a recovering alcoholic.
Her second book was nonfiction, Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, Lies, and published by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
in early 2008. The book takes a cultural history of natural wonder at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
. Strand writes about how Niagara Falls has influenced America's history and environment.
In researching her second book, Strand used handbills, guidebooks, travelogues
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
, treaties, and images in the society's collections. The book chronicles Strands' fascination with infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, which she calls "a culture’s dream made visible.”
Inventing Niagara received positive reviews in the New York Times Book Review,
Newsweek, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. The LA Times criticized it as overwrought with irrelevant details. The book was a finalist for the 2008 Orion Magazine Book Award and was picked as one of summer 2008's best non-fiction books by Fresh Air
Fresh Air
Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...
on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
.
External links
(1) http://www.pw.org/content/perils_writing_close_home_truth_vs_fiction