Whitney Otto (born March 5, 1955) is an American novelist best known for her debut novel How to Make an American Quilt.
Whitney Otto | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 5, 1955 California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Alma mater | University of the Pacific San Diego State University University of California, Irvine |
| Notable works | How to Make an American Quilt (1991) |
Life and career
editOtto was born and raised in California to a couple who later divorced;[1] her father was an engineer, while her mother worked in advertising.[2] She attended university at the University of the Pacific, San Diego State University, and the University of California, Irvine before graduating.[1] Currently she lives in Portland, Oregon with her family,[3] where they moved from San Francisco.[1] Her first novel, How to Make an American Quilt, was a New York Times bestseller, and was featured on other bestseller lists as well; it was also a New York Times Notable Book, was nominated for the Art Seidenbaum Award, and was adapted into a feature film. Two of her other novels, The Passion Dream Book and Now You See Her, were optioned for films; the first was nominated for an Oregon Book Award, while the latter was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Her works have been published in fourteen languages.[4] Otto's writing has also been anthologized; some of her pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Oregonian, and The San Francisco Chronicle, as well as in magazines.[5]
As a writer, Otto has been described as a "democrat", choosing to tell her stories using multiple narrative voices.[2] She has taught at a number of writing workshops during her career.[6][7] In 1990 she received an Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of California, Irvine; she has also been awarded a number of other prizes and grants during her career. Otto has also been active as an artist, crafting shadow boxes that have been exhibited at a gallery in Portland.[5] She has also spoken of her love for photography and the creative life; though not a photographer herself, she based her most recent novel on the stories of a number of prominent women photographers whose lives she fictionalized.[8][9]
Works
edit- How to Make an American Quilt (1991)
- Now You See Her (1994)
- The Passion Dream Book (1998)
- A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity (2002)
- Eight Girls Taking Pictures (2012)
Art For the Ladlylike: An Autobiography Through Other Lives (2021)
References
edit- ^ a b c "Whitney Otto - ReadingGroupGuides.com". www.readinggroupguides.com. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ a b Books, Used, New, and Out of Print Books - We Buy and Sell - Powell's. "Whitney Otto: The Powells.com Interview by C. P. Farley". www.powells.com. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Whitney Otto". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "Whitney Otto". The Joy Harris Literary Agency, Inc. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Whitney - About". whitneyotto.com. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ "Winter Workshop Craft: Whitney Otto - Tin House". 11 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "Unoriginal Sins". The New York Times. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "Bookmarks: Portland writer Whitney Otto talks about her new novel". 3 November 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ Caroline (5 January 2013). "CAROLINELEAVITTVILLE: Whitney Otto talks about Eight Girls Taking Pictures, how women manage or don't manage their lives, structure in a novel, and so much more". Retrieved 24 December 2017.