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Michael Cunningham
American novelist and screenwriter
Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is Professor in the Practice of Creative Writing at Yale University.
Early life and education
Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in La Cañada Flintridge, California. 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 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 and in 1993 a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1995 he was awarded a Whiting Award. Cunningham has taught at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and in the creative writing M.F.A. program at Brooklyn College.
Career
The Hours established Cunningham as a significant American writer. His 2010 novel, By Nightfall, was also well received by U.S. critics. Cunningham edited a book of poetry and prose by Walt Whitman, 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, starring Glenn Close, Toni Collette, and Meryl Streep.
In November 2010, Cunningham judged one of NPR's "Three Minute Fiction" contests.
In April 2018, it was announced that Cunningham would serve as consulting producer for a revival of the Tales of the City miniseries, which is based on Armistead Maupin's book series of the same name. The miniseries premiered on June 7, 2019.
Personal life
Although Cunningham is gay, and married to psychoanalyst Ken Corbett, he dislikes being referred to as a gay writer, according to a PlanetOut article. 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." Cunningham lives in Brooklyn, New York City, and works in Manhattan.
Adaptations
The Hours (2002), film directed by Stephen Daldry, based on novel The Hours
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 (2004), film directed by Michael Mayer, based on 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
Awards and achievements
"White Angel" was included in the 1989 Best American Short Stories.
"Mister Brother" was included in the 2000 O. Henry Prize Stories.
For The Hours, Cunningham was awarded the:
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - 1999
PEN/Faulkner Award - 1999
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Book Award - 1999
In 1995, Cunningham received a Whiting Award.
In 1996, Cunningham won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction for Flesh and Blood.
In 2011, Cunningham won the Fernanda Pivano Award for American Literature in Italy.
In 2024, Cunningham won the Premio Gregor von Rezzori for Day.