Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout is an American author who is primarily known for her novel, Olive Kitteridge. Strout was born in Portland, Maine in 1956 and grew up in what she calls "a small, vibrant community." Strout attended Bates College and then earned a Master's in Fine Arts from Syracuse University.

Strout published her first novel, Amy and Isabelle, in 1998. The novel was well-received and earned Strout the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Sue Kaufman Prize for first fiction. The novel tells the story of mother and daughter relationship set in smalltown New England.

Strout’s second novel, Abide With Me, was released in 2006 and was based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1849 poem. The novel follows a Maine pastor who quickly discovers he is out of his depth when he gets assigned to a rural parish in 1938.

In 2008, Strout released her third novel, Olive Kitteridge. The novel earned Strout the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2009. The novel follows Olive Kitteridge, a retired math teacher, as she deals with the vicissitudes of life in a small Maine coastal town. Olive is a touch character who is as tough as leather and sympathetic at the same time.

Strout followed up Olive Kitteridge in 2010 with the novel The Burgess Boys. The novel tells the story of two successful brothers from Maine who are called upon to help their sister, Susan, when her sons become embroiled in a hate crime.

Strout’s fifth novel, The Flight from Chickens, was published in 2015. The novel tells the story of a chicken farmer in Maine, who is struggling with his own personal demons, and the toll his isolated lifestyle takes on his family.

In 2018, Strout published her sixth novel, My Name is Lucy Barton. The novel tells the story of a woman who is reunited with her estranged mother after being hospitalized with a mysterious illness.

Strout’s novels often tackle issues such as loneliness, death, fatherhood, divorce and abandonment with sensitivity and wit. Her novels explore themes such as the dynamic between parent and child and how our destinies can be shaped by our past and our experiences.

Strout is currently working on her seventh novel. She has also written several short stories and contributed to The Best American Short Stories of 2004, 2007 and 2011. In addition to writing, Strout is a visiting professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and teaches in the Low-Residency MFA Program at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina.