Alice McDermott
Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is an American writer and university professor. She is the author of nine novels and a collection of essays. For her 1998 novel Charming Billy she won an American Book Award and the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Orange Prize.
Alice McDermott
Wes Washington · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Alice McDermott
- Born
- 27 June 1953
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
- Occupation
- Novelist, essayist
- Education
- State University of New York, Oswego (BA) University of New Hampshire (MA)
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- essay
- Honours
- National Book Award for Fiction · American Book Awards · Whiting Awards · Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award
- Languages
- American English · English
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Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is an American writer and university professor. She is the author of nine novels and a collection of essays. For her 1998 novel Charming Billy she won an American Book Award and the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Orange Prize.
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wikidata · Q1242948 · wikipedia · Alice McDermott
In this article
Biography
Biography
That Night, At Weddings and Wakes, and After This were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Her most recent novel, Absolution was awarded the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. From 2002 to 2019, McDermott was the Johns Hopkins University's Richard A. Macksey Professor of the Humanities.
Alice McDermott studied at University of New Hampshire and State University of New York at Oswego. The recorded working language is American English and English. The field of work recorded is essay. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are essay. Employment is recorded with Johns Hopkins University. Distinctions recorded are National Book Award for Fiction, American Book Awards, Whiting Awards and Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award.

Alice McDermott and Margaret Brennan discuss their Irish heritage during a National Book Festival Presents event, February 6, 2020. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.
Library of Congress Life · 20200206SM513.jpg
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Alice McDermott • Born — 27 June 1953 • Birthplace — Brooklyn, New York, U.S. • Occupation — Novelist, essayist • Education — State University of New York, Oswego (BA) University of New Hampshire (MA) • Genre — Literary fiction • Website — https: www.alice-mcdermott.com
Life
Life
McDermott was born in Brooklyn, New York. She attended St. Boniface School in Elmont, New York, on Long Island (1967), Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead (1971), and the State University of New York at Oswego, receiving her BA in 1975, and received her MA from the University of New Hampshire in 1978. • Illustration — McDermott (left) speaking in 2020 She is the recipient of several honorary degrees including Boston College, Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, University of New Hampshire, SUNY Oswego, Mount St. Mary's University, La Salle University, Regis College, The College of the Holly Cross. She has taught at UCSD and American University, has been a writer-in-residence at Lynchburg College and Hollins College in Virginia, and was lecturer in English at the University of New Hampshire. In 2012 she was the D'Angelo Scholar-in-Residence, St. John's University. From 2002 to 2019, McDermott was the Richard A. Macksey Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. For two decades McDermott served on the faculty of Sewanee Writers Conference. Her short stories have appeared in Harper's Bazaar, Commonweal, The Sewanee Review, Ms., Redbook, Mademoiselle, The New Yorker, Good Housekeeping, and Seventeen. She has also published articles in The New York Times and The Washington Post. McDermott lives outside Washington, D.C., with her husband, a neuroscientist, and three grown children. She is Catholic, though she once deemed herself "not a very good Catholic."
Novels
Novels
* * * * * * * * *
Essays
Essays
*
Publisher profiles
Publisher profiles
• Profile at Commonweal • Profile at The Sewanee Review • Profile at Whiting Foundation
Reviews
Reviews
• Profile at Book Marks • Reviews by Kirkus • After This Reviews at Metacritic
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Alice McDermott”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1242948: Alice McDermott
General reference · Wikidata
Literary awards
Literary awards
• Year — Title — Award — Category — Result — Ref. • 1987 — That Night — Los Angeles Times Book Prize — Fiction — Finalist • National Book Award — Fiction — Finalist • 1988 — PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction — — — Finalist • Pulitzer Prize — Fiction — Finalist • 1992 — At Weddings and Wakes — Pulitzer Prize — Fiction — Finalist • 1998 — Charming Billy — National Book Award — Fiction • 1999 — American Book Award — — • 2000 — International Dublin Literary Award — — — Finalist • Women's Prize for Fiction — — — Finalist • 2002 — Child of My Heart: A Novel — International Dublin Literary Award — — — Longlisted • 2006 — After This — Pulitzer Prize — Fiction — Finalist • 2007 — Audie Award — Literary/Classics — Finalist • 2013 — Someone — National Book Award — Fiction — Longlisted • National Book Critics Circle Award — Fiction — Finalist • 2014 — Dayton Literary Peace Prize — — — Finalist • 2015 — International Dublin Literary Award — — • 2017 — The Ninth Hour — Kirkus Prize — Fiction — Finalist • National Book Critics Circle Award — Fiction — Finalist • 2018 — Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence — Fiction — Longlisted • Prix Femina étranger — — • 2019 — International Dublin Literary Award — — — Longlisted • 2024 — Absolution — Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award — — • PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction — — — Finalist
Honors
Honors
• 1987 – Whiting Award • 2004 – Gaudium Prize • 2008 – Corrington Award for Literature • 2010 – Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence • 2013 – Inducted into the New York Writers Hall of Fame • 2015 – Mary McCarthy Award, Bard College • 2019 – Seamus Heaney Award for Literature, Glucksman Ireland House • 2024 – Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters • 2024 – Recipient of the Eugene O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award
Citations
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
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