Hanna Pylväinen
{{Short description|American novelist and educator}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Hanna Pylväinen
| birth_place = U.S.
| alma_mater = Mount Holyoke College (BA)
University of Michigan (MFA)
| occupation = Novelist, educator
| citizenship = United States
| period = 2007 – present
| notable_works = We Sinners (2007)
The End of Drum-Time (2023)
}}
Hanna Pylväinen is an American novelist and educator. She is on the faculty at the Warren Wilson College MFA for Writers. She was formerly an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
Life
Hanna Pylväinen grew up in suburban Detroit. Her family belonged to a conservative Finnish Lutheran church, a sect called Laestadianism.{{cite web|date=23 August 2012|title=Faith, Family And Forgiveness In 'We Sinners'|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/26/159928880/faith-family-and-forgiveness-in-we-sinners|work=NPR.org}} Her maternal and paternal great-grandparents were from Finland.{{Cite web |url=https://yle.fi/a/74-20054468 |title=Amerikansuomalainen Hanna Pylväinen erosi lestadiolaisuudesta, mutta teki liikkeestä kirjan: "En uskonut siihen, mitä he saarnasivat" |last=Kiviranta |first=Varpu |date=November 13, 2023 |website=Yle Uutiset |language=fi |access-date=November 24, 2023}}
Pylväinen attended Mount Holyoke College and received a BA in 2007,{{Cite web|last=|date=2013|title=Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly Winter 2013|url=https://issuu.com/mhcalumnae/docs/winter13q_forissuu|access-date=2021-05-25|website=Issuu|publisher=Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College|page=37|language=en}} and she received a MFA from the University of Michigan.{{Cite news |date=2012-09-16 |title=Hanna Pylväinen |pages=FICT–23 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117205699/hanna-pylvinen/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |issn=1085-6706}} She was a postgraduate Zell Fellow, awarded by the Zell Family Foundation.{{Cite web |date=March 8, 2013 |title=Zell Family Foundation Awards $50 Million to University of Michigan Creative Writing Program |url=https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/zell-family-foundation-awards-50-million-to-university-of-michigan-creative-writing-program |website=Candid, philanthropy news}}
Writing
Her strict religious upbringing inspired her first novel, We Sinners, which follows the individual members of a large religious family as they grapple with their faith.{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=John|date=2012-10-23|title=4 Playwrights Among Winners of 2012 Whiting Awards|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/4-playwrights-among-winners-of-2012-whiting-awards/|access-date=2021-05-25|website=ArtsBeat, The New York Times|language=en-US}}
Her writing has also appeared in Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere.{{cite web|url=http://arts.princeton.edu/people/profiles/hp5/|title=Hanna Pylväinen|work=Lewis Center for the Arts}}
In 2023, her novel The End of Drum-Time was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-03 |title=Here are the 2023 National Book Award finalists. |url=https://lithub.com/here-are-the-2023-national-book-award-finalists/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}
Awards and honors
= Honors =
- 2012, Whiting Award
- 2014–2015, Princeton Arts Fellow
- 2020-2021, Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library
= Literary awards =
- 2023 National Book Award for Fiction finalist, The End of Drum-Time
Work
- {{Cite book |last=Pylväinen |first=Hanna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcBoYgEACAAJ |title=Unbelieving: A Memoir |publisher=Mount Holyoke College |year=2007 |language=en |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |title=We Sinners: A Novel |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |year=2012 |isbn=9780805095333 |url-access=registration |last=Pylväinen |first=Hanna |url=https://archive.org/details/wesinners00pylv |location=New York |language=en |author-mask=2}}
- {{Cite book |last=Pylväinen |first=Hanna |title=The End of Drum-Time |title-link=The End of Drum-Time |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |year=2023 |isbn=9781250822901 |location=New York |language=en |author-mask=2 |url=}}{{Cite book |last=Pylväinen |first=Hanna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1oxnEAAAQBAJ |title=The End of Drum-Time |date=2023-01-24 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |isbn=9781250822918 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=September 28, 2022 |title=The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250822901 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Publishers Weekly |issn=0000-0019}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=January 20, 2023 |title=PW Picks: Books of the Week, January 23, 2023 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/91297-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-january-23-2023.html |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Publishers Weekly |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=November 16, 2022 |title=The End of Drum-Time |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hanna-pylvainen/the-end-of-drum-time/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}
= Short work =
- {{Cite journal |last=Pylvainen |first=Hanna |author-mask=2 |date=March 30, 2012 |title=Easter Among Strangers |work= |journal=The New York Times Magazine |type=article |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/magazine/easter-among-strangers.html}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.hannapylvainen.com/}}
- [http://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/hanna-pylvainen#/ Profile] at The Whiting Foundation
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGGo2tzEGug/ Interview] about her book available on Youtube
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pylvainen, Hanna}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:University of Michigan alumni
Category:Mount Holyoke College alumni
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:American people of Finnish descent
Category:American women novelists
{{US-novelist-stub}}