44 Facts About Gail Godwin

Gail Godwin was born on June 18,1937 and is an American novelist and short story writer.

Gail Godwin was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but raised mostly in Asheville, North Carolina by her mother and grandmother.

Gail Godwin adopted her mother's interest in writing at an early age and obtained a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gail Godwin was born on June 18,1937, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Gail Godwin's grandfather died in 1939, so Godwin was raised by her mother and grandmother in Asheville, where they lived until 1948.

Gail Godwin's grandmother filled the traditional role of a mother, cleaning, cooking and sewing, while her mother was the breadwinner.

Gail Godwin's mother had a Bachelor's and master's degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gail Godwin taught college-level English in the mornings, and worked as a reporter for a local paper, Asheville Citizen-Times, in the evenings.

At nine years old Gail Godwin wrote her first story, titled "Ollie McGonnigle".

Gail Godwin was further inspired by her mother's determination to continue writing after having a second child.

Gail Godwin witnessed her mother's plays and novels being rejected.

Gail Godwin's autobiography creates the impression that much of her own writing was intended to accomplish the things her mother could not.

Gail Godwin attended several different high schools, including an all-girls Catholic school, St Genevieve-of-the-Pines.

Gail Godwin had no relationship with her father, until the two re-connected at her high school graduation.

Gail Godwin's mother died in a car accident in 1989.

Gail Godwin attended Peace College in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1955 to 1957.

Gail Godwin then transferred to University of North Carolina, where she attended from 1957 to 1959, graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Gail Godwin submitted a portion of her novel Windy Peaks for their consideration.

In London Gail Godwin worked for the US Travel Service run by the American embassy from 1961 to 1965.

Gail Godwin said she was a "glorified receptionist," who was able to read books in secret while at work.

Several publishers rejected the novel and the manuscript was lost when Gail Godwin sent the only copy to a publisher that went out of business without returning it.

Gail Godwin said the job was embarrassing, because she wanted to be a writer, as opposed to fact-checking the work of others.

At this point, a distant uncle of Gail Godwin's died, leaving her an inheritance of $5,000.

Gail Godwin used the money to apply to the Iowa Writers Workshop and, after being accepted, to move from New York to Iowa City in 1967.

Gail Godwin began teaching Greek Drama, before earning a position teaching literature.

Gail Godwin's first published novel was her dissertation written as graduate work at University of Iowa.

From 1971 on, Gail Godwin earned a living through her work as a writer and augmented her income by means of intermittent teaching positions.

Several short stories by Gail Godwin were published in prominent magazines like Harper's Esquire, Ms.

Gail Godwin was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

In 1987, Gail Godwin was awarded the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for her work on The Southern Family.

In November 2004 Gail Godwin signed a contract with the publisher Ballantine Books for her next four books.

Kirkus Reviews said Gail Godwin had "a couple of subpar efforts," until publishing Queen of the Underworld in 2006.

Gail Godwin taught at the University of Illinois Center for Advanced Studies from 1971 to 1972.

Gail Godwin acted as chair of the fiction panel for the National Book Awards in 1986 and 2008.

In 1989, Gail Godwin founded a small publishing house called St Hilda's Press.

Gail Godwin later became a Distinguished Alumna of the University of North Carolina and the University of Iowa.

French said Gail Godwin herself disapproves of being categorized, which she feels creates "externally imposed limitations" on the themes she covers.

Academic Lihong Xie said Gail Godwin could be identified with the literary tradition of the Bildungsroman, which focuses on the moral and psychological development of a character.

Gail Godwin's work has spanned different literary categories, such as realism, fantasy and allegory.

All of Gail Godwin's books written from 1970 to 1990 are fictional stories based on themes taken from Gail Godwin's life.

Gail Godwin's books begin to incorporate religious themes starting with Father Melancholy's Daughter.

Gail Godwin said her early works showed a frustration with not being heard, and that her later books focuses on her enemies.

Gail Godwin is typically praised for having convincing plots, witty, intelligent characters and that she has strong narrative skill.

Gail Godwin has been criticized, in particular in response to The Good Husband, for excessive symbolism.