Annie Proulx

Born in Norwich, Connecticut, on August 22, 1935, Annie Proulx is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist who has also published as E. Annie Proulx and E. A. Proulx. Before turning fully to fiction, she studied history and worked in journalism, and that grounding in place, labor, and daily life helped shape the vivid realism of her writing.

She gained major attention with Postcards, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and then reached an even wider audience with The Shipping News, which won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. Many readers also know her for the short story "Brokeback Mountain," first published in The New Yorker and later adapted into the acclaimed film.

Proulx is especially admired for writing that is exact, atmospheric, and deeply rooted in landscape, whether she is describing Newfoundland outports, the American West, or the long environmental history behind Barkskins. Her work is often tough-minded and darkly funny, filled with people trying to endure hard weather, hard economies, and one another.