Monica Hesse

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| name = Monica Hesse

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| occupation = Journalist, novelist

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| nationality = American

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| alma_mater = Bryn Mawr College (BA)
Johns Hopkins University (MA)

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| genres = Non-fiction, young adult fiction

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Monica Hesse (born {{Birth based on age as of date|26|2008|June|2|noage=1}}){{Cite web |last=Jaffe |first=Harry |date=2008-06-02 |title=Hesse's Got Style |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2008/06/02/hesses-got-style/ |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Washingtonian |language=en-US}} is an American journalist and author. She was the gender columnist for The Washington Post and a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Early life and education

Hesse is from Normal, Illinois, where her father, Douglas D. Hesse, taught writing at Illinois State University. Her mother is a therapist.

She attended Bryn Mawr College, where she wrote a column for The Bi-College News and majored in English. She graduated in 2003.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-11 |title=Monica Hesse '03 Publishes New Book |url=https://www.brynmawr.edu/bulletin/monica-hesse-03-publishes-new-book-0 |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Bryn Mawr College |language=en}} In 2009, she earned a master's degree in nonfiction writing from Johns Hopkins University.{{Cite web |last=McCabe |first=Bret |date=2017-09-01 |title=Talking with Monica Hesse |url=https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2017/fall/interview-monica-hesse-american-fire/ |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Johns Hopkins Magazine |language=en}}

Career

During Hesse's junior year of college, she interned at AARP: The Magazine, an experience that led to a full-time job at the publication after she graduated. She moved to Washington, D.C. and began taking freelance assignments for The Washington Post and the tabloid On Tap.

In 2007, Hesse interned for the Post's Style section, later becoming a permanent feature writer.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/monica-hesse/|title=Monica Hesse|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=17 July 2018}} In 2018, she was appointed the newspaper's first ever gender columnist.{{Cite news |last=Levine |first=Jon |date=May 23, 2018 |title=Washington Post Names Monica Hesse as First 'Gender Columnist' |url=https://www.thewrap.com/washington-post-names-monica-hesse-as-papers-first-gender-columnist/ |access-date=17 July 2018 |work=TheWrap}}

Hesse is the author of several novels, with a focus on the World War II era. Her 2017 book American Fire reports on a string of arsons in Accomack County, Virginia.

Awards

Hesse is the recipient of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery for her book Girl in the Blue Coat{{Cite news |title=23 Outstanding Books That Won Awards in 2017 |url=https://www.bookbub.com/blog/2017/12/20/award-winning-books-2017-2 |access-date=17 July 2018}} and the Society for Feature Journalism's Narrative Storytelling award.{{Cite web |title=Monica Hesse and 'American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land |url=http://niemanstoryboard.org/stories/5ish-questions-monica-hesse-and-american-fire-love-arson-and-life-in-a-vanishing-land/ |access-date=17 July 2018 |website=niemanstoryboard.org}} She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, "for columns that convey the anger and dread that many Americans felt about losing their right to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade."{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Finalist: Monica Hesse of The Washington Post |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/monica-hesse-washington-post |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=The Pulitzer Prize}}

Personal life

Hesse lives in University Park, Maryland with her family.{{Cite web |last=Beckwith |first=Alison |date=2020-04-09 |title=University Park Author Monica Hesse Revisits World War II in Her Latest Book |url=https://www.hyattsvillewire.com/2020/04/09/monica-hesse-they-went-left/ |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Hyattsville Wire |language=en-US}}

Works

2016 – Girl in the Blue Coat{{Cite web |last=Kirch |first=Claire |date=2016-04-12 |title=Q & A with Monica Hesse |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/69936-q-a-with-monica-hesse.html |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Publishers Weekly |language=en}}
2017 – American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land
2018 – The War Outside{{Cite news |last=Memmott |first=Carol |date=2018-09-25 |title=The tragic timeliness of a novel about a World War II internment camp |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-tragic-timeliness-of-a-novel-about-a-world-war-ii-internment-camp/2018/09/20/586c4776-a7d7-11e8-a656-943eefab5daf_story.html |access-date=2024-08-11 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}
2020 – They Went Left
2024 – The Brightwood Code{{Cite web |last=Baugher Milas |first=Lacy |title=A Telephone Operator Is Haunted by Her Wartime Past In This Excerpt From The Brightwood Code |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/monica-hesse/the-brightwood-code-excerpt-ya-historical-fiction |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Paste Magazine |language=en-US}}