Marilynne Robinson (b.1943,) née Summers, is an American author known for her graceful language and studied observations on humankind and religion in fiction and nonfiction works. Her best-known works include Housekeeping (1980) and the Pulitzer-winning Gilead (2004.)
Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, Summers studied American literature at Brown University and obtained a PhD in English at the University of Washington. Her début novel was the masterpiece Housekeeping (1980.) Then she did not write another novel for more than 20 years.
Robinson wrote essays and book reviews for Harper’s and The New York Times Book Review. She also taught writing at several universities on the East Coast and in England. She wrote a nonfiction book about England’s nuclear waste and many essays about philosophy and theology. Returning to America, she took a teaching job in Iowa and worked on the side as a church minister.
Robinson returned with Gilead (2004,) which won her the Pulitzer. She published two companion novels to Gilead, called Home (2008) and Lila (2014.)
Robinson also published collections of essays on science, religion, politics, and culture: Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self (2010,) When I Was a Child I Read Books (2012,) The Givenness of Things (2015,) and What Are We Doing Here? (2018.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Marilynne Robinson
There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient.
—Marilynne Robinson
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