Priscilla Gilman (born May 1, 1970) is an American writer and former college professor. She has written about literature, parenting, education, and autism for numerous publications, and is an advocate for autistic people and children. She is the author of The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy, which was inspired by her autistic son Benjamin.

Priscilla Gilman
BornMay 1, 1970
New York City, New York, United States
Alma materYale University
Period2011-present
GenreNon-fiction
Notable worksThe Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy

Biography

edit

Priscilla Gilman was born and raised in New York City. Her mother is the literary agent Lynn Nesbit, her father the Yale Drama School professor, author, and critic Richard Gilman. She attended The Brearley School from first through twelfth grade, and earned a B.A. summa cum laude and with exceptional distinction from Yale University, where she majored in English, in 1993. She also did her master's degree and PhD in English and American literature at Yale. Gilman was an assistant professor of English at Yale for two years and an assistant professor of English at Vassar College for four years before leaving academia in 2006. From 2006 to 2011, she worked as a literary agent at Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

Raising Benjamin has inspired Priscilla to raise awareness of autism. In 2011, she published her first book, The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy, which was written about him and the romantic poetry she had studied, written about, and taught.[1][2] The Anti-Romantic Child was excerpted in Newsweek magazine and featured on the cover of its international edition. It was an NPR Morning Edition Must-Read, Slate‘s Book of the Week, selected as one of the Best Books of 2011 by the Leonard Lopate Show, and chosen as a Best Book of 2011 by The Chicago Tribune. One of five nominees for a Books for a Better Life Award for Best First Book, The Anti-Romantic Child was also awarded the Mom’s Choice Gold Award.[3] It was published in Brazil as O Filho Antirromantico by Companhia das Letras.

Since the publication of The Anti-Romantic Child, Gilman has written numerous articles and book reviews for publications including the Daily Beast, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times’ Motherlode, the Boston Globe, DuJour magazine, The Chicago Tribune, MORE, O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Redbook, and Huff Post Parents. Her December 2012 New York Times op-ed, “Don’t Blame Autism for Newtown,” was the most emailed article on the site for several days after its publication. Her August 25, 2013 New York Times Book Review Back Page Essay, “Early Reader,” was also widely shared.

Gilman is the parenting/education advice columnist for #1 best-selling author Susan Cain's Quiet Revolution website. Her son is skilled in classical guitar, and Priscilla and Benjamin have recorded a holiday CD, which was released for Christmas 2016.[citation needed]

Works

edit
  • The Anti-Romantic Child. HarperCollins. 19 April 2011. ISBN 978-0-06-169027-3.
  • The Critic's Daughter. W. W. Norton. 7 February 2023. ISBN 978-0-393-65132-4. [4][5][6][7][8][9]

References

edit
  1. ^ Brown, Tina (18 May 2011). "Tina Brown's Must-Reads: On Life, Start To Finish (Book Review)". NPR. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  2. ^ "The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy (starred book review)". Publishers Weekly. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Author Priscilla Gilman Talks Kids, Books and Motherhood". Red Tricycle. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  4. ^ Green, Penelope (2023-02-05). "Literary Fathers, Literary Daughters, and the Books That Bind Them". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  5. ^ "'The Critic's Daughter' Explores the Marriage of Lynn Nesbit and Richard Gilman | All Of It". WNYC. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  6. ^ Steffens, Daneet. "Priscilla Gilman, daughter of Richard Gilman, paints a loving but clear-eyed portrait of a complicated man in 'The Critic's Daughter' - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  7. ^ Garner, Dwight (2023-02-13). "Her Father Was a Drama Critic, Her Mother a Superstar Agent". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  8. ^ "Review of "The Critic's Daughter" by Priscilla Gilman". The Washington Post. Feb 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "Commentary: Richard Gilman, the complicated subject of a new memoir, helped raise the bar for theater criticism". Los Angeles Times. 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-06-23.

Sources

edit
edit