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Annie Dillard

Author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

32+ Works 19,776 Members 357 Reviews 118 Favorited

About the Author

Annie Dillard was born Annie Doak in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 30, 1945. She received a B.A and an M.A. in English from Hollins College. She writes both fiction and nonfiction books including Tickets for a Prayer Wheel, Holy the Firm, Teaching a Stone to Talk, The Living, and Mornings Like show more This: Found Poems. She won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. She wrote an autobiography entitled An American Childhood. Her work also has appeared in such periodicals as The Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and Cosmopolitan. She taught for 21 years in the English department of Wesleyan University. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Phyllis Rose

Works by Annie Dillard

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974) 5,453 copies
The Writing Life (1989) 2,556 copies
An American Childhood (1987) 2,203 copies
For the Time Being (1999) 1,246 copies
The Maytrees: A Novel (2007) 1,244 copies
The Living (1992) 1,196 copies
Holy the Firm (1977) 1,172 copies
Living by Fiction (1982) 764 copies
The Annie Dillard Reader (1994) 354 copies
Tickets for a Prayer Wheel (1974) 269 copies
Modern American Memoirs (1995) — Editor — 189 copies

Associated Works

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) — some editions — 16,405 copies
The Art of the Personal Essay (1994) — Contributor — 1,371 copies
The Best American Essays of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 774 copies
Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (2004) — Contributor — 757 copies
Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir (1987) — Contributor — 495 copies
American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau (2008) — Contributor — 414 copies
The Norton Book of Women's Lives (1993) — Contributor — 409 copies
Cries of the Spirit: A Celebration of Women's Spirituality (2000) — Contributor — 370 copies
Baseball: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Contributor — 335 copies
Maiden Voyages: Writings of Women Travelers (1993) — Contributor — 191 copies
The Best American Essays 1999 (1999) — Contributor — 184 copies
The Norton Book of Personal Essays (1997) — Contributor — 142 copies
The Best American Essays 1990 (1990) — Contributor — 117 copies
The Penguin Book of Women's Humour (1996) — Contributor — 117 copies
Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (1986) — Contributor — 103 copies
The Best American Essays 1989 (1989) — Contributor — 100 copies
The Seasons of Women: An Anthology (1995) — Contributor — 46 copies
Spring: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (2006) — Contributor — 33 copies
Antaeus No. 75/76, Autumn 1994 - The Final Issue (1994) — Contributor — 32 copies
Meditations In Light (1989) — Contributor — 12 copies
Night: A Literary Companion (2009) — Contributor — 8 copies

Tagged

20th century (290) American (355) American literature (416) anthology (598) autobiography (313) biography (304) Brooklyn (333) childhood (129) Christmas (123) classic (477) classics (450) coming of age (420) essay (163) essays (1,616) family (174) favorites (148) fiction (2,395) historical fiction (343) history (115) literature (593) memoir (1,091) natural history (178) nature (801) New York (331) New York City (157) non-fiction (1,558) novel (300) own (185) philosophy (209) poetry (347) poverty (272) read (363) religion (141) short stories (153) spirituality (267) to-read (1,941) unread (206) women (190) writing (943) young adult (156)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Doak, Meta Ann (born)
Birthdate
1945-04-30
Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Country (for map)
USA
Birthplace
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Places of residence
Middletown, Connecticut, USA
Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Lummi Island, Bellingham, Washington, USA
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
Education
Hollins College (BA|English)
Hollins College (MA|English)
The Ellis School
Occupations
poet
professor
novelist
essayist
short-story writer
literary critic (show all 7)
painter
Relationships
Dillard, R. H. W. (husband|divorced)
Richardson, Robert D., Jr. (husband)
Smith, Lee (friend)
Organizations
American Academy of Arts and Letters ( [1999])
International PEN
Poetry Society of America
Society of American Historians
NAACP
National Citizens for Public Libraries (show all 15)
Phi Beta Kappa
Harper's Magazine (editor)
Western Washington University (scholar-in-residence)
Wesleyan University (professor)
Wesleyan Writers' Conference (chair)
American Heritage Dictionary (usage panelistl)
Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs
Partners in Health
The Virginia Woolfs
Awards and honors
Campion Award (1994)
Washington Governor's Award for Literature (1977)
Appalachian Gold Medallion ( [1989])
St. Botolph's Club Foundation Award (1989)
History Maker Award (Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania ∙ 1993)
Connecticut Governor's Arts Award (1993) (show all 14)
Milton Prize (1994)
Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame (1997)
Academy Award in Literature (American Academy of Arts and Letters ∙ 1998)
New York Public Library Literary Lion (1984)
Boston Public Library Literary Light (1990)
Middletown Commission on the Arts Award (1987)
Phi Beta Kappa
Bollingen Prize (1984)
Agent
Timothy Seldes (Russell and Volkening)

Members

Discussions

Annie Dillard in Non-Fiction Readers (April 2016)
Group Read- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (February 2014)

Reviews

Wonderful book. Something of a departure for me, as generally I like to read more science based nature books. This one was full of poetry, philosophy, Pliny quotes and particle physics. There are scenes that might haunt you for years to come ( a butterfly from her school days, a section on parasites) and other parts that might lift your spirit. There is very little straightforward narrative, so if you are looking for that , look elsewhere.
 
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cspiwak | 104 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |
How could an Annie Dillard book only get four stars from me? I'm thinking about it in the context of her other work. I came to this book expecting it to be a book from which I could glean some writing advice, even if not directly. And that's how the book is marketed in most contexts. I wasn't able. Not any more than I could from Cather's *O Pioneers* which I just finished. Or from a collection of James Wright's letters. Part of learning to write is to learn what you like from other writers and to emulate them. I guess. That's certainly true about this book. There are few writers who write more compelling and transcendent descriptions than Dillard. My only criticism is that the book lacked focus. It feels like a collection of essays written over the years that didn't really fit into any other collections. Each was beautiful in its own right. But that last chapter about the aerial stunt pilot is incredible. Dillard prose feels both musical and balletic. Like a conductor bringing a score into being without playing an instrument. Magic.… (more)
 
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trauman | 54 other reviews | Feb 6, 2024 |
Beautiful essays and encouragement on the writing process. Dillard is like an old friend.
 
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Aidan767 | 54 other reviews | Feb 1, 2024 |
One of the best books I ever read; it changed my life. It might have helped that Tinker Creek is just a few miles away from the place I spent my childhood summers - pretty much alone with the woods and apple trees and enchantment of the mountains near Roanoke, Virginia.
 
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BethOwl | 104 other reviews | Jan 24, 2024 |

Lists

Awards

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Susan Mitchell Contributor
Elizabeth Hardwick Contributor
Samuel Hynes Contributor
Charles Simic Contributor
Tavia Gilbert Narrator
Richard Adams Introduction
Grace Conlin Narrator
Marc Cohen Cover designer
Albert Pinkham Cover artist
Geoff Dyer Introduction

Statistics

Works
32
Also by
35
Members
19,776
Popularity
#1,096
Rating
4.2
Reviews
357
ISBNs
239
Languages
8
Favorited
118

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