These Writers Were Honored Big This Morning

The exceptional talents of 17 lucky writers were honored Thursday morning with the announcement of 2014's Guggenheim Fellows. Every April the prestigious fellowship is granted to approximately 200 scholars, artists, and scientists selected from thousands of applicants “on the basis of impressive achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.” And indeed among the batch of 177 recipients this year are some amazing writers with even more ahead of 'em.

Among the seven writers honored for fiction, four women were selected: Claire Watkins, Chloe Aridjis, Julie Orringer, and Victoria Redel. Watkins, a California native, snagged last year’s NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award and a slew of others for her short story collection Battleborn. London-based Mexican novelist Chloe Aridjis sophomore novel Asunder, published last May, was met with great critical acclaim and put her on the literary radar. Julie Orringer, a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, is most known for her short-story collection How to Breathe Under Water, and in May 2010, she published her highly anticipated debut novel, The Invisible Bridge, about a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student who leaves his native Budapest for Paris. New York-born Victoria Redel has three books under her belt, including 2001 Loverboy, which was made into a feature film directed by none other than Kevin Bacon.

Ten pen masters were honored for non-fiction including literary powerhouses Susan Orleans and Meghan O’Rourke. O’Rourke, one of the youngest New Yorker editors in the magazine’s history, is most known for her critically acclaimed memoir The Long Goodbye. Prize-winning essayist Emily Fox Gordon also made the non-fiction list. Gordon has authored four books, including Mockingbird Years, an artfully personal retelling of her adolescent years spent in and out of therapy.

It’s safe to say that talent abounds in this year’s selection. Way to kill it, all.