Tony Eprile

{{Short description|South African and American writer (born 1955)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Tony Eprile

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| birth_date = 1955

| birth_place = Johannesburg, South Africa

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| occupation = Novelist

| education = Connecticut College; Brown University

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| genre = Drama, fiction, short stories

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| notableworks =

| awards = Koret Jewish Book Award (2005)

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Tony Eprile is a South African and American writer. His 2004 novel, The Persistence of Memory, won the Koret Jewish Book Award in 2005, beating out The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.[https://www.jta.org/archive/koret-honors-jewish-writers-works-for-community-of-readers Koret Honors Jewish Writers, Works for Community of Readers] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 14 April 2005[https://www.jta.org/2006/03/07/lifestyle/jewish-book-awards-get-facelift Jewish book awards get facelift] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 7 March 2006

Early life

Tony Eprile was born in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa in 1955 to Jewish parents.{{Cite web|url=https://www.biu.ac.il/hu/en/cw/ilanot/interview.html|title=the ILANOT Review|website=www.biu.ac.il}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZKzAwAAQBAJ&dq=Tony+Eprile+born&pg=PA93|title=The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 10: 1973-2005|first=Posen Library of Jewish culture and civilization (Lucerne|last=Switzerland)|date=November 20, 2012|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300135534|via=Google Books}} His mother, Liesel Weil was a from a well-to-do German Jewish family in Frankfurt that were adherents of Liberal Judaism. Amid the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, she emigrated to South Africa in 1936 at the age of seventeen. Eprile's father, Cecil Eprile, a Scottish Jew, also arrived in South Africa in 1936. Cecil was the editor of the Golden City Post, a liberal newspaper catering to a black South African readership and advocating for the end of apartheid.[https://www.oprah.com/book/reading-room-sept-2018-the-prison-letters-of-nelson-mandela?editors_pick_id=74590 17 Books to Kick-Start Fall] Oprah. 24 August 2018

In the late 1960s, he emigrated to England with his parents and brother when he was 12 years-old. The family then emigrated to the United States between 1970 and 1972{{Cite web |first=Sandee |last=Brawarsky |url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/10124/ |title='Memory' Shapes Life and History|website=Jewish Journal |date=September 9, 2004 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2004/06/13/laughter-and-forgetting/817c3d5e-378b-443e-80ea-5f3414511404/|title=Laughter and Forgetting|first=Frances|last=Taliaferro |type=book review |date=June 13, 2004|newspaper=Washington Post }} At the age of 17, Eprile then a recent arrival in the United States, took a writing class at college. He produced a South African-themed short story titled, "Cough’s Tokoloshe", with the tokoloshe employed as a metaphor for white fears. Year later, he gave a copy of the story to a visiting poet, Robert Hayden. Hayden invited him to talk to him about the story, and they became friends, with Hayden acting as an important mentor to Eprile.[https://www.massreview.org/node/713 10 Questions for Tony Eprile] The Massachusetts Review. 15 February 2017

He attended Connecticut College, graduating with a BA in Anthropology. He later graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Brown University.[https://lesley.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/tony-eprile Tony Eprile] Lesley University. Retrieved on 6 September 2024

Career

Eprile is the author of the 1989 book Temporary Sojourner and Other South African Stories,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/20/books/where-men-are-boys-even-now.html|title=Where Men Are Boys Even Now|first=Hazel|last=Rochman|date=August 20, 1989|via=NYTimes.com}} which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/eprile-tony-1955|title=Eprile, Tony 1955(?)- | Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}

His 2004 book The Persistence of Memory{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/08/books/truth-and-reconciliation.html|title=Truth and Reconciliation|first=Theo|last=Tait|date=August 8, 2004|newspaper=The New York Times }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-18-bk-merkin18-story.html|title=Ah, but the land is unforgettable|date=July 18, 2004|website=Los Angeles Times}} won the Koret Jewish Book Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2006/03/07/lifestyle/jewish-book-awards-get-facelift|title=Jewish book awards get facelift|date=March 7, 2006}} Anderson Tepper, writing in The Forward, speculated that the novel "just might prove to be the [South African] Jewish community’s masterpiece."[https://forward.com/culture/4050/south-african-jews-begin-to-tell-tales/ South African Jews Begin To Tell Tales] The Forward. 24 December 2024 The novel was also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/books/review/100-notable-books-of-the-year.html 100 Notable Books of the Year] The New York Times. 5 December 2004 It was also listed as a best book of 2004 by The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.[https://www.benningtonbanner.com/local-news/authors-tony-eprile-and-judith-d-schwartz-wrap-books-for-bennington/article_3c2dea8d-639c-5ef2-9519-505d1c9f17f4.html Authors Tony Eprile and Judith D. Schwartz wrap ‘Books for Bennington’] Bennington Banner. 6 July 2009

He has taught at Northwestern University, Williams College, Bennington College, Lesley University, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2j_ieNDsU4C&dq=Tony+Eprile+born+johannesburg&pg=PA89|title=The Columbia Guide to South African Literature in English Since 1945|first1=Gareth|last1=Cornwell|first2=Dirk|last2=Klopper|first3=Craig|last3=Mackenzie|date=April 13, 2010|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231503815|via=Google Books}}

He has also published guest columns, book reviews, literary criticism and interviews with writers for titles such as The New York Times, The Nation, The Washington Post, Tablet and The Johannesburg Review of Books.[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/07/books/ma-why-did-you-make-me-black.html'MA, WHY DID YOU MAKE ME BLACK?'] The New York Times. 7 January 1990[https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/gordimers-way/ Gordimer’s Way] The Nation. 16 September 2014[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1990/05/27/secrets-of-a-small-town-in-germany/9eec6d57-0c32-490f-a3de-2fd3bf954064/ SECRETS OF A SMALL TOWN IN GERMANY] The Washington Post. 26 May 1990[https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/putting-out-the-unwelcome-mat Putting Out the Unwelcome Mat] Tablet. 27 February 2017[https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2020/01/16/conversation-issue-i-know-what-lurks-in-the-bushes-and-thats-how-i-write-the-stories-jason-reynolds-talks-to-tony-eprile-about-resistance-and-the-imagination/ [Conversation Issue] ‘I know what lurks in the bushes. And that’s how I write the stories’—Jason Reynolds talks to Tony Eprile about resistance and the imagination] The Johannesburg Review of Books. 16 January 2020 He acts as an Editorial Advisory Panel member for The Johannesburg Review of Books with Antjie Krog and Lauren Beukes, among others.[https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2022/05/02/the-jrb-five-years-50-issues-425-contributors/ The JRB: five years, 50 issues, 425 contributors] The Johannesburg Review of Books. 2 May 2022

Personal life

Eprile lives in Vermont in the United States with his wife, Judith D. Schwartz, whom he married in 1989.[https://www.judithdschwartz.com/about about] https://www.judithdschwartz.com. Retrieved on 6 September 2024[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/style/judith-schwartz-weds-tony-eprile.html Judith Schwartz Weds Tony Eprile] The New York Times. 29 October 1989