Elizabeth Strout is a highly acclaimed American author, renowned for her works of short stories and literary fiction. She was born in Portland, Maine, but spent much of her childhood in New Hampshire and Maine. From a young age, Strout had a deep love for writing, and could often be found with notebooks and diaries, recording her story ideas and short fiction. She also enjoyed reading and spent a significant amount of time at the local library, particularly in the fiction section. During the summer months, she would play outside, often alone, and developed an affinity for the outdoors and the physical world in the woods of New Hampshire and the rocky coasts of Maine.
Strout's passion for writing continued into adolescence, where she began to see herself as a professional author. She studied the writing styles of various authors, paying particular attention to how they told stories and memorized a lot of poetry. By the time she was sixteen, she was submitting her stories to magazines. Strout's dedication to her craft paid off, as she went on to become a bestselling author and win numerous awards for her works.
Strout is the author of several highly acclaimed novels, including "Abide with Me," a national bestseller and BookSense pick, and "Amy and Isabelle," which won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize. Her novel "Olive Kitteridge" won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. In addition to her novels, Strout's short stories have been published in a number of magazines, including The New Yorker. She is also a teacher and has taught at the Master of Fine Arts program at Queens University of Charlotte. Strout is known for her ability to craft compelling and relatable characters, and her works often explore themes of family, relationships, and small-town life. She currently divides her time between Maine and New York City.