Heidi W. Durrow
Encyclopedia
Heidi W. Durrow is an American writer, author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, and the winner of the 2008 Barbara Kingsolver Bellwether Prize for Literature of Social Change.
, where she attended Jefferson High School. She majored in English at Stanford University
and wrote a weekly column for the Stanford Daily graduating in 1991 with Honors. Durrow continued her education at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
and received a M.S. in 1992. She then attended Yale Law School
and received her J.D. in 1995.
Durrow worked as a consultant to the National Basketball Association and National Football League as a Life Skills trainer from 2000-2006.
Durrow’s first literary publication, “Light-skinned-ed Girl,” appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review Spring/Summer 2005. The story was shortlisted as one of the Top 100 Stories in Best American Short Stories 2006 ed. Ann Patchett. Her writing has also appeared in The Literary Review, Smokelong Quarterly, and Poem/Memoir/Story.
Durrow is the co-host of the award-winning weekly podcast Mixed Chicks Chat focused on issues of being racially and culturally mixed.
In 2008 Durrow and Fanshen Cox co-founded the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival. An annual free public event, the Festival celebrates stories of the Mixed experience including stories about biracial identity, transracially adopted families, and interracial and intercultural relationships and friendships. The Festival, a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, presents films, readings, workshops, a family event, and the largest West Coast "((Loving Day celebration))". The Festival also presents the annual Loving Prize for storytellers and community leaders who have shown exceptional dedication dedication to sharing and illuminating the Mixed experience. Past Loving Prize recipients include: writer "((James McBride))", Hapa artist Kip Fulbeck, TV producer and writer Angela Nissel, and scholar Maria P. P. Root.
Early life and education
Durrow, the daughter of a white Danish immigrant and an African-American Air Force man, grew up in part overseas in Turkey, Germany, and Denmark. In 1980 her family settled in Portland, OregonPortland, 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...
, where she attended Jefferson High School. She majored in English at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and wrote a weekly column for the Stanford Daily graduating in 1991 with Honors. Durrow continued her education at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of Columbia's graduate and professional schools. It offers three degree programs: Master of Science in journalism , Master of Arts in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications...
and received a M.S. in 1992. She then attended Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
and received her J.D. in 1995.
Career
Durrow’s career began at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City where she worked as a corporate litigator on antitrust, commercial contracts, and employment discrimination cases. She left Cravath in 1997 to pursue a literary career.Durrow worked as a consultant to the National Basketball Association and National Football League as a Life Skills trainer from 2000-2006.
Durrow’s first literary publication, “Light-skinned-ed Girl,” appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review Spring/Summer 2005. The story was shortlisted as one of the Top 100 Stories in Best American Short Stories 2006 ed. Ann Patchett. Her writing has also appeared in The Literary Review, Smokelong Quarterly, and Poem/Memoir/Story.
Durrow is the co-host of the award-winning weekly podcast Mixed Chicks Chat focused on issues of being racially and culturally mixed.
In 2008 Durrow and Fanshen Cox co-founded the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival. An annual free public event, the Festival celebrates stories of the Mixed experience including stories about biracial identity, transracially adopted families, and interracial and intercultural relationships and friendships. The Festival, a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, presents films, readings, workshops, a family event, and the largest West Coast "((Loving Day celebration))". The Festival also presents the annual Loving Prize for storytellers and community leaders who have shown exceptional dedication dedication to sharing and illuminating the Mixed experience. Past Loving Prize recipients include: writer "((James McBride))", Hapa artist Kip Fulbeck, TV producer and writer Angela Nissel, and scholar Maria P. P. Root.
Awards
- 2004: Winner,Chapter One Fiction Contest
- 2004: Jerome Foundation Award for Emerging WritersThe Playwrights' CenterThe Playwrights' Center is a theater organization established in 1971 in Minneapolis, Minnesota with the aim of furthering the careers of both new and established individuals in the field. Five playwrights formed the organization in the hopes of providing/obtaining support for new play development...
- 2004: Winner, Lorian Hemingway Short Story CompetitionLorian HemingwayLorian Hemingway is an American author, whose books include the memoir Walk on Water, the novel "Walking Into the River", and the non-fiction book "A World Turned Over" about the devastation of her hometown, South Jackson, Mississippi, by the Candlestick Park Tornado in 1966...
- 2004: Fellowship in Fiction, New York Foundation for the Arts
- 2007: Creative Artist Fellowship, American Antiquarian Society
- 2007: Elizabeth George Foundation Grant for Writers
- 2007: Creative Artist Fellowship, American Scandinavian Foundation
- 2007: Roth Endowment Award
- 2008: Bellwether Prize for Literature of Social ChangeBellwether PrizeThe Bellwether Prize for Fiction is a biennial award given to a U.S. citizen for a previously unpublished work of fiction that address issues of social justice. The prize was established by noted author Barbara Kingsolver, and is funded by her. Winning authors receive a $25,000 award and a...
, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
External links
- Heidi W. Durrow Official Website
- Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival Website
- Mixed Chicks Chat Website
- Personal Interview: http://myamericanmeltingpot.blogspot.com/2008/07/meltingpot-interview-heidi-w-durrow.html
- Heidi Durrow, Portland Native: http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/print_story.php?story_id=122470461914235700
- Portrait and Interview: Blended Nation: Portraits of Multiracial People by Mike Tauber (2009) http://www.miketauber.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=23&a=3&p=1&at=0