Lucia Berlin
Encyclopedia
Lucia Berlin was an American
short story writer.
. Her first small collection, Angels Laundromat was published in 1981, but her published stories were written as early as 1960. Several of her stories appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic and Saul Bellow’s little magazine The Noble Savage. Berlin published six collections of short stories, but most of her work can be found in three later volumes from Black Sparrow Books
: Homesick: New and Selected Stories (1990), So Long: Stories 1987-92 (1993) and Where I Live Now: Stories 1993-98 (1999).
Berlin was never a bestseller, but was widely influential within the literary community. She has been compared to Raymond Carver
and Richard Yates
. Her one-page story "My Jockey", consisting of five paragraphs, won the Jack London Short Prize for 1985. Berlin also won an American Book Award
in 1991 for Homesick, and was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Up through the early 1990s, Berlin taught creative writing in a number of venues, including the San Francisco County Jail and the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University
. She also took oral histories from elderly patients at Mt. Zion Hospital.
In the fall of 1994, Berlin began a two-year teaching position as Visiting Writing at University of Colorado, Boulder. Near the end of her term, she was one of four campus faculty awarded the Student Organization for Alumni Relations Award for Teaching Excellence.http://tomraworth.com/lcamera.html "To win a teaching award after two years is unheard of," the English Chair Katherine Eggert said later in an obituary. Berlin was asked to stay on at the end of her two-year term. She was named associate professor, and continued teaching there until 2000.
Berlin was plagued by health problems, including double scoliosis. Her crooked spine punctured one of her lungs, and she was never seen without an oxygen tank beside her from 1994 until her death. She retired when her condition grew too severe to work, and she later developed lung cancer. She moved to Los Angeles to be closer to her family, and to assist her breathing, as Boulder's elevation of over 5,000 feet complicated her lung condition. Lucia died in her home in Marina del Rey, on her birthday, with one of her favorite books in her hands.
—Molly Giles, San Francisco Chronicle, on So Long
"Berlin's literary model is Chekhov, but there are extra-literary models too, including the extended jazz solo, with its surges, convolutions, and asides. This is writing of a very high order."
—August Kleinzahler, London Review of Books, on Where I Live Now
"This remarkable collection occasionally put me in mind of Annie Proulx's Accordion Crimes, with its sweep of American origins and places. Berlin is our Scheherazade, continually surprising her readers with a startling variety of voices, vividly drawn characters, and settings alive with sight and sound."
—Barbara Barnard, American Book Review, on on Where I Live Now
pp 33–34
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
short story writer.
Overview
Berlin began publishing relatively late in life, under the encouragement and sometimes tutelage of poet Ed DornEd Dorn
Edward Merton Dorn was an American poet and teacher often associated with the Black Mountain poets. His most famous work is Gunslinger.-Overview:...
. Her first small collection, Angels Laundromat was published in 1981, but her published stories were written as early as 1960. Several of her stories appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic and Saul Bellow’s little magazine The Noble Savage. Berlin published six collections of short stories, but most of her work can be found in three later volumes from Black Sparrow Books
Black Sparrow Books
Black Sparrow Books, formerly known as Black Sparrow Press, is a book publisher originally founded in 1966 by John Martin of Santa Rosa, California. He founded this company in order to publish the works of Charles Bukowski and other avant-garde authors. He initially financed this company by...
: Homesick: New and Selected Stories (1990), So Long: Stories 1987-92 (1993) and Where I Live Now: Stories 1993-98 (1999).
Berlin was never a bestseller, but was widely influential within the literary community. She has been compared to Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
and Richard Yates
Richard Yates (novelist)
Richard Yates was an American novelist and short story writer, known for his exploration of mid-20th century life.-Life:...
. Her one-page story "My Jockey", consisting of five paragraphs, won the Jack London Short Prize for 1985. Berlin also won an American Book Award
American Book Award
The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
in 1991 for Homesick, and was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Early Life and Adulthood
Berlin was born in Juneau, Alaska and spent her childhood on the move, following her father's career as a mining engineer. The family lived in mining camps in Idaho, Montana and Arizona, and Chile, where Lucia spent most of her youth. As an adult, she lived in New Mexico, Mexico, north and south California and Colorado. She was married three times and had four sons.Work Influences and Teaching
Throughout her life, Berlin earned a living through a series of working class jobs, reflected in story titles like "Manual for Cleaning Women," "Emergency Room Notebook, 1977," and "Private Branch Exchange" (an old term for switchboard operators).Up through the early 1990s, Berlin taught creative writing in a number of venues, including the San Francisco County Jail and the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University
Naropa University
Naropa University is a private American liberal arts university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher and Oxford University scholar Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the eleventh-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda.Naropa describes itself as...
. She also took oral histories from elderly patients at Mt. Zion Hospital.
In the fall of 1994, Berlin began a two-year teaching position as Visiting Writing at University of Colorado, Boulder. Near the end of her term, she was one of four campus faculty awarded the Student Organization for Alumni Relations Award for Teaching Excellence.http://tomraworth.com/lcamera.html "To win a teaching award after two years is unheard of," the English Chair Katherine Eggert said later in an obituary. Berlin was asked to stay on at the end of her two-year term. She was named associate professor, and continued teaching there until 2000.
Berlin was plagued by health problems, including double scoliosis. Her crooked spine punctured one of her lungs, and she was never seen without an oxygen tank beside her from 1994 until her death. She retired when her condition grew too severe to work, and she later developed lung cancer. She moved to Los Angeles to be closer to her family, and to assist her breathing, as Boulder's elevation of over 5,000 feet complicated her lung condition. Lucia died in her home in Marina del Rey, on her birthday, with one of her favorite books in her hands.
Critical Praise
"[The stories] are told in a conversational voice and they move with a swift and often lyrical economy. They capture and communicate moments of grace and cast a lovely, lazy light that lasts. Berlin is one of our finest writers and here she is at the height of her powers."—Molly Giles, San Francisco Chronicle, on So Long
"Berlin's literary model is Chekhov, but there are extra-literary models too, including the extended jazz solo, with its surges, convolutions, and asides. This is writing of a very high order."
—August Kleinzahler, London Review of Books, on Where I Live Now
"This remarkable collection occasionally put me in mind of Annie Proulx's Accordion Crimes, with its sweep of American origins and places. Berlin is our Scheherazade, continually surprising her readers with a startling variety of voices, vividly drawn characters, and settings alive with sight and sound."
—Barbara Barnard, American Book Review, on on Where I Live Now
External links
- Berlin at Black Sparrow Press
- "Love, Lucia", London Review of Books, Vol. 27 No. 15, 4 August 2005
pp 33–34
- Berlin personal biography by Alastair Johnston, Poltroon Press
- http://tomraworth.com/luciaberlin.htmlBerlin memorial site, at Tom RaworthTom RaworthTom Raworth is a London-born poet and visual artist who has published over forty books of poetry and prose since 1966. His works has been translated and published in many countries. Raworth is a key figure in the British Poetry Revival. He lives in Brighton, England.-Early life and work:Raworth...
website] - text of Rocky Mountain News obituary
- text of Boulder Daily Camera obituary