Howard, Maureen, 1930-....

Maureen Howard, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was the daughter of William Kearns, an Irish immigrant and county detective for Fairfield County. Howard's early novels (Bridgeport Bus, and Before My Time) draw extensively on the influence of her own Irish-Catholic upbringing, with Bridgeport featuring prominently in subsequent works.

Howard is best known for her novels Bridgeport Bus, Natural History, and A Lover's Almanac, as well as her critical introductions to Virginia Woolf and Edith Wharton. Her writing often describe individuals who are "out of place" often focusing on female characters divided between the obligations of home, career, and private life. Her work is frequently compared to Virginia Woolf and Henry James, both of whom she cites as influences. Howard was awarded a Guggenheim in 1967; her 1978 memoir Facts of Life won the National Book Critics Circle award.

As a self-identified "gypsy teacher," Maureen Howard has held positions at Columbia, Yale, the New School for Social Research, Brooklyn College, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition to her novels, Howard wrote an op-ed column "Her" in the New York Times (1979), as well as critical introductions for Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and several collections of essays and women's fiction. She currently lives in New York City and teaches writing at Columbia University.

This collection focuses primarily on her novels, beginning with the 1962 Bridgeport Bus and ending with her 2001 collection Big as Life; it also includes a broad representation of journalism, essays, and teaching materials through this period.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Maureen Howard, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was the daughter of William Kearns, an Irish immigrant and county detective for Fairfield County. Howard's early novels ( Bridgeport Bus, and Before My Time ) draw extensively on the influence of her own Irish-Catholic upbringing, with Bridgeport featuring prominently in subsequent works.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Howard is best known for her novels Bridgeport Bus, Natural History, and A Lover's Almanac, as well as her critical introductions to Virginia Woolf and Edith Wharton. Her writing often describe individuals who are "out of place” often focusing on female characters divided between the obligations of home, career, and private life. Her work is frequently compared to Virginia Woolf and Henry James, both of whom she cites as influences. Howard was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967; her 1978 memoir Facts of Life won the National Book Critics Circle award.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED As a self-identified "gypsy teacher," Maureen Howard has held positions at Columbia, Yale, the New School for Social Research, Brooklyn College, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition to her novels, Howard wrote an op-ed column "Her" in the New York Times (1979), as well as critical introductions for Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and several collections of essays and women's fiction. She currently lives in New York City and teaches writing at Columbia University.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED This collection focuses primarily on her novels, beginning with the 1962 Bridgeport Bus and ending with her 2001 collection Big as Life; it also includes a broad representation of journalism, essays, and teaching materials through this period.