Editing Michael Cunningham

{{short description|American novelist and screenwriter|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{other people}}
{{BLP sources|date = September 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| name        = Michael Cunningham
| image       = Michael Cunningham JB by David Shankbone.jpg
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1952|11|6}}
| birth_place = [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date  =
| death_place =
| occupation  = {{flatlist|
* Author
* [[screenwriter]]
* senior lecturer in [[creative writing]] at [[Yale University]]}}
| education   = [[Stanford University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[University of Iowa]] ([[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]])
| signature   = MCunninghamSign.JPG
| notablework = ''[[The Hours (novel)|The Hours]]''
| awards      = [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction]] <br> [[PEN/Faulkner Award]]
}}
'''Michael Cunningham''' (born November 6, 1952)<ref>{{cite web|title= Meet the Writers: Michael Cunningham|url= http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writer.asp?cid=1015986|date= c. 2009|work= barnesandnoble.com|publisher= [[Barnes & Noble]]|access-date= 2009-06-26|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090408211503/http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writer.asp?cid=1015986|archive-date= 2009-04-08}}</ref> is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel ''[[The Hours (novel)|The Hours]]'', which won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=''The Hours'', by Michael Cunningham (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/michael-cunningham |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=www.pulitzer.org |language=en}}</ref> and the [[PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction|PEN/Faulkner Award]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past Award Winners & Finalists {{!}} The PEN/Faulkner Foundation |url=https://www.penfaulkner.org/2011/08/01/past_award_winners/ |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=www.penfaulkner.org}}</ref> in 1999. Cunningham is Professor in the Practice of [[creative writing|Creative Writing]] at [[Yale University]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Cunningham {{!}} English |url=https://english.yale.edu/people/professors-practice-full-part-time-lecturers-creative-writers/michael-cunningham |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=english.yale.edu |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Cunningham was born in [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]], and grew up in [[La Cañada Flintridge, California]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.barclayagency.com/speakers/michael-cunningham |title=Michael Cunningham |author=<!--No author name given.--> |date=<!--No date given.--> |publisher=SBA The Steven Barclay Agency |access-date=2023-10-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626065828/https://www.barclayagency.com/speakers/michael-cunningham |archive-date=2023-06-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.altaonline.com/california-book-club/a41120748/julie-otsuka-swimmers-michael-cunningham-special-guest/ |title=The Moment: Introducing the Special Guest in Conversation with Julie Otsuka |last=Felicelli |first=Anita |date=September 13, 2022 |website=Alta |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913162709/https://www.altaonline.com/california-book-club/a41120748/julie-otsuka-swimmers-michael-cunningham-special-guest/ |archive-date=2022-09-13}}</ref> He studied [[English literature]] at [[Stanford University]], where he earned his degree. Later, at the [[University of Iowa]], he received a Michener Fellowship and was awarded a [[Master of Fine Arts]] degree from the [[Iowa Writers' Workshop]]. While studying at Iowa, he had short stories published in the ''[[The Atlantic|Atlantic Monthly]]'' and ''[[The Paris Review]]''. His short story "White Angel" was later used as a chapter in his novel ''A Home at the End of the World''. It was included in "The Best American Short Stories, 1989", published by Houghton Mifflin.

In 1988, Cunningham received a [[National Endowment for the Arts]] Fellowship<ref>{{Cite web |title=Literature Fellowships |url=https://www.arts.gov/grants/recent-grants/literature-fellowships |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=www.arts.gov |language=en}}</ref> and in 1993 a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Cunningham |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/michael-cunningham/ |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation... |language=en}}</ref> In 1995 he was awarded a [[Whiting Awards|Whiting Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Cunningham |url=https://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/michael-cunningham#/ |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=www.whiting.org}}</ref> Cunningham has taught at the [[Fine Arts Work Center]] in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]], and in the [[creative writing]] [[Master of Fine Arts|M.F.A. program]] at [[Brooklyn College]].

==Career==

''[[The Hours (novel)|The Hours]]'' established Cunningham as a major force in the American writing sphere, and his 2010 novel, ''[[By Nightfall]]'', was also well received by U.S. critics.<ref>[https://www.metacritic.com/books/authors/cunninghammichael/specimendays?q=specimen%20days metacritic entry on "Specimen Days"]{{dead link|date=October 2011}}</ref> Cunningham edited a book of poetry and prose by [[Walt Whitman]],<ref>[http://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/for-every-atom-belonging-to-me-poet-michael-cunningham/ "For Every Atom Belonging to Me: Poet Michael Cunningham", Radio Netherlands Archives, October 7, 2006]</ref> ''Laws for Creations'', and co-wrote, with [[Susan Minot]], a screenplay adapted from Minot's novel ''Evening''. He was a producer for the 2007 film ''[[Evening (film)|Evening]]'', starring [[Glenn Close]], [[Toni Collette]], and [[Meryl Streep]].

In November 2010, Cunningham judged one of [[NPR]]'s "Three Minute Fiction" contests.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2010/11/14/131314768/three-minute-fiction-the-winner-is|title=Three-Minute Fiction: The Winner Is ...|website=NPR.org }}</ref>

In April 2018, it was announced that Cunningham would serve as consulting producer for a revival of the ''[[Tales of the City (2019 miniseries)|Tales of the City]]'' miniseries, which is based on [[Armistead Maupin|Armistead Maupin's]] [[Tales of the City|book series of the same name]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|title=''Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City'' Revival Gets Series Order At Netflix; Ellen Page Joins Cast|url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/armistead-maupins-tales-of-the-city-limited-series-order-netflix-1202375690/|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=June 12, 2019|date=April 24, 2018}}</ref> The [[miniseries]] premiered on June 7, 2019.

==Personal life==
Although Cunningham is gay, and married to psychoanalyst Ken Corbett,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/24/garden/at-home-with-michael-cunningham-this-is-the-house-the-book-bought.html |title=At Home With: Michael Cunningham; This Is the House The Book Bought |work=The New York Times |first=John |last=Leland |date=October 24, 2002 |access-date=September 7, 2013}}</ref> he dislikes being referred to as a [[:Category:Gay writers|gay writer]], according to a [[PlanetOut]] article.<ref>[http://www.planetout.com/entertainment/interview.html?sernum=301 PlanetOut Entertainment<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829095620/http://www.planetout.com/entertainment/interview.html?sernum=301 |date=August 29, 2009 }}</ref> While he often writes about gay people, he does not "want the gay aspects of [his] books to be perceived as their single, primary characteristic."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.out.com/entertainment/books/2010/09/30/catching-michael-cunningham?page=full |title=Catching Up with Michael Cunningham |work=Out |first=Chadwick |last=Moore |date=September 30, 2010 |access-date=September 7, 2013}}</ref> Cunningham lives in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]] and works in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alter |first=Alexandra |date=September 13, 2023 |title=Michael Cunningham Couldn't Help but Write a Pandemic Novel |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/books/michael-cunningham-day.html |access-date=December 11, 2023}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
[[Image:Michael Cunningham 3 by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|Cunningham reading at a [[W. H. Auden]] tribute in New York, 2007]]

=== Novels ===

* ''Golden States'' (1984)
* ''[[A Home at the End of the World (novel)|A Home at the End of the World]]'' (1990)
* ''Flesh and Blood'' (1995)
* ''[[The Hours (novel)|The Hours]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Specimen Days]]'' (2005)
* ''[[By Nightfall]]'' (2010)
* ''The Snow Queen'' (2014)
* ''Day'' (2023)

=== Short stories ===

Collections:
* ''A Wild Swan and Other Tales'' (2015), Farrar, Straus and Giroux {{ISBN|978-0374290252}}, collection of 11 short stories:
*: "Dis. Enchant.", "A Wild Swan", "Crazy Old Lady", "Jacked", "Poisoned", "A Monkey's Paw", "Little Man", "Steadfast; Tin", "Beasts", "Her Hair", "Ever/After"

Uncollected short stories:
* "White Angel" (1989), later used as a chapter in novel ''A Home at the End of the World''
* "Mister Brother" (1999)
* "The Destruction Artist" (2007), collected in ''A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer'' (2007), edited by [[Eve Ensler]] and Mollie Doyle
* "A Wild Swan" (2010), collected in anthology ''[[My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me|My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales]]'' (2010), edited by [[Kate Bernheimer]] and [[Carmen Giménez Smith]]

=== Non-fiction ===

* {{cite journal |date=1996 |title=The Slap of Love |url=http://opencity.org/archive/issue-6/the-slap-of-love |journal=Open City |volume=6 }}, article
* ''Land's End: A Walk in Provincetown'' (2002), travels
* ''Company'' (2008), an essay on the influence of Virginia Woolf on Cunningham's writing
* ''About Time: Fashion and Duration'' (2020), with Andrew Bolton, couture

===Screenplays===

* ''[[A Home at the End of the World (film)|A Home at the End of the World]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Evening (film)|Evening]]'' (2007)

===Contributor===

* ''Drawn by the Sea'' (2000) ([[exhibition catalogue]] text; 110 signed copies)
* ''[[The Voyage Out]]'' (2001), by [[Virginia Woolf]] (Modern Library Classics edition) (Introduction)
* ''I Am Not This Body: The Pinhole Photographs of [[Barbara Ess]]'' (2001) (Text)
* ''[[Washington Square (novel)|Washington Square]]'' (2004), by [[Henry James]] (Signet Classics edition) (Afterword)
* ''[[Death in Venice]]'' (2004), by [[Thomas Mann]] (new translation by [[Michael Henry Heim]]) (Introduction)
* ''Laws for Creations'' (2006), poems by [[Walt Whitman]] (Editor and introduction)
* ''Fall River Boys'' (2012), photo book by [[Richard Renaldi]], introductory essay<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.charleslanepress.com/fallriverboys|title=Charles Lane Press &#124; Books}}</ref>

== Adaptations ==

* ''[[The Hours (film)|The Hours]]'' (2002), film directed by [[Stephen Daldry]], based on novel ''[[The Hours (novel)|The Hours]]''
* ''[[The Hours (opera)|The Hours]]'' (2022), opera with music by [[Kevin Puts]] and libretto by Greg Pierce, based on the novel and the film
* ''[[A Home at the End of the World (film)|A Home at the End of the World]]'' (2004), film directed by [[Michael Mayer (director)|Michael Mayer]], based on novel ''[[A Home at the End of the World (novel)|A Home at the End of the World]]''
* ''The Destruction Artist'' (2012), short film directed by Michael Sharpe, based on short story "The Destruction Artist"
* ''The Hours: A Live Tribute'' (2016), short film directed by Tim McNeill, based on novel ''[[The Hours (novel)|The Hours]]''

==Awards and achievements==
*"White Angel" was included in the 1989 ''[[Best American series|Best American Short Stories]]''.
*"Mister Brother" was included in the 2000 ''[[O. Henry Award|O. Henry Prize Stories]]''.

For ''The Hours'', Cunningham was awarded the:
*[[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction]] - 1999
*[[PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction|PEN/Faulkner Award]] - 1999
*[[Stonewall Book Award|Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Book Award]] - 1999

In 1995, Cunningham received the a [[Whiting Awards|Whiting Award]].

In 2011, Cunningham won the [[Premio Fernanda Pivano|Fernanda Pivano Award]] for American Literature in Italy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2011/07/01/le-menzogne-di-cunningham-la-musica-di.html|title=Le menzogne di Cunningham e la musica di Servillo - la Repubblica.it|date=July 2011 }}</ref> He won the [[Premio Gregor von Rezzori]] for ''Day'' in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Cunningham, Day |url=https://www.raicultura.it/letteratura/articoli/2024/05/Michael-Cunnigham--904d4af7-7b2a-487e-9fc6-eb7144911a98.html |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=Rai Cultura |language=it}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[LGBT culture in New York City]]
* [[List of LGBT people from New York City]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote}}

* {{Official website}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* [http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=1182 2004 article by Randy Shulman] from ''[[Metro Weekly]]''
* [http://english.yale.edu/faculty-staff/michael-cunningham Michael Cunningham's profile] in [[Yale University]]
* [http://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/michael-cunningham#/ Michael Cunningham's profile] at [http://www.whiting.org/ The Whiting Foundation]
* [http://www.kwls.org/podcasts/margaret_atwood_and_michael_cu/ Speculative Fiction and the Art of Subversion - Conversation between Michael Cunningham and Margaret Atwood] at [http://www.kwls.org/ Key West Literary Seminar]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/feb/07/michael-cunningham-life-writing Michael Cunningham, A Life In Writing, article in ''The Guardian'']

{{PulitzerPrize Fiction 1976–2000}}
{{USC Scripter Awards — Film}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Michael}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American people of Croatian descent]]
[[Category:American gay writers]]
[[Category:Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from California]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio]]
[[Category:Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winners]]
[[Category:Stonewall Book Award winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Novelists from Ohio]]
[[Category:PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners]]
[[Category:People from Provincetown, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American postmodern writers]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Iowa alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Writers from Pasadena, California]]
[[Category:Yale University faculty]]
[[Category:Brooklyn College faculty]]
[[Category:Novelists from California]]
[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]