Elizabeth Benedict

{{short description|American author}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Elizabeth Benedict | image = 180px | caption = Benedict at the Martha's Vineyard Book Festival, 2019 | occupation = {{flatlist| * Writer * Editor * College Admissions Consultant}} | education = Barnard College | website = {{URL|ElizabethBenedict.com}} }}

'''Elizabeth Benedict''' is an American author best known for her fiction, her personal essays, as the editor of three anthologies, and for ''The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers''. Her novels are: ''Slow Dancing, The Beginner's Book of Dreams, Safe Conduct, Almost'', and ''The Practice of Deceit''. Her first memoir, ''Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own,'' was published in May 2023.<ref name="BostonGlobe">{{Cite web |first=Joan|last=Frank|title=Elizabeth Benedict's 'Rewriting Illness' injects tragicomedy into a personal account of cancer diagnosis and treatment|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/11/arts/elizabeth-benedicts-rewriting-illness-injects-tragicomedy-into-personal-account-cancer-diagnosis-treatment/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=The Boston Globe|date=May 11, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="kirkusreviews.com">{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elizabeth-benedict/rewriting-illness/ |title=REWRITING ILLNESS {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref> She lives in New York City and works as a college admissions consultant.<ref name="Garrison Keillor 2019">{{cite web | title=The Writer's Almanac for Friday, December 20, 2019 | website=Garrison Keillor | date=December 20, 2019 | url=http://www.garrisonkeillor.com/radio/twa-the-writers-almanac-for-december-20-2019/ | access-date=April 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Birnbaum |first1=Robert |title=Author Interview: Elizabeth Benedict |url=http://www.identitytheory.com/elizabeth-benedict/ |website=Identity Theory |date=September 20, 2006 |accessdate=January 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Baird |first1=Robert |title=Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives, edited by Elizabeth Benedict |url=https://www.bookforum.com/culture/-4665 |website=Bookforum |accessdate=January 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Shea |first1=Jack |title=Getting into College: Guide Elizabeth Benedict advises high schoolers not to 'Sweat the Essay.' |url=https://www.mvtimes.com/2019/07/24/getting-into-college/ |website=MVTimes |date=July 24, 2019 |accessdate=January 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Contributor: Elizabeth Benedict |url=https://www.huffpost.com/author/ebenedict-796 |website=HuffPost |accessdate=January 6, 2020}}</ref>

== Work ==

=== Fiction === Her first published short story, "Feasting," was selected for the 1983 O. Henry Prize Short Story collection.<ref name="randomhouse.com 1999">{{cite web | title=The O. Henry Prize Stories | website=randomhouse.com | date=December 24, 1999 | url=http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/ohenry/winners/past.html | access-date=April 4, 2020}}</ref> Her second story, "A Fifty Percent Chance," published in ''Seventeen'' magazine in 1982, earned a National Magazine Award.<ref name="The New York Times 1984">{{cite web | title=11 NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS PRESENTED BY EDITORS' GROUP | website=The New York Times | date=April 25, 1984 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/25/nyregion/11-national-magazine-awards-presented-by-editors-group.html | access-date=April 4, 2020}}</ref> Her first novel, ''Slow Dancing'' (Alfred A. Knopf), was a finalist for the 1985 National Book Award<ref name="National Book Foundation 2015">{{cite web | title=Elizabeth Benedict | publisher=National Book Foundation | date=December 10, 2015 | url=https://www.nationalbook.org/people/elizabeth-benedict/ | access-date=April 4, 2020}}</ref> and the ''Los Angeles Times'' Fiction Prize.<ref name="LibraryThing 1999">{{cite web | title=Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist – Awards | website=LibraryThing | date=December 24, 1999 | url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Los+Angeles+Times+Book+Prize+finalist | access-date=April 4, 2020}}</ref> Her novel ''Almost'', a ''New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year, was selected as one of ''Newsweek''{{'}}s Best Fiction of 2001.

=== Nonfiction === Benedict's ''Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers'' (Story Press) was first published in 1996. A second edition, published in 2002, was updated to include the new role of the Internet and the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal in writing about sex in fiction The book was also published in the U.K., Germany and Australia<ref name="Newman 1996">{{cite web | last=Newman | first=Remi | title=Elizabeth Benedict | website=My City Paper | date=September 19, 1996 | url=https://mycitypaper.com/articles/091996/article001.shtml | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="WritersServices 2014">{{cite web | title=Joy of writing sex | website=WritersServices | date=June 4, 2014 | url=https://www.writersservices.com/content/joy-writing-sex-reviews | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="the Guardian 2002">{{cite web | title=Review: Book Club – Disgrace | website=The Guardian | date=June 14, 2002 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jun/15/jmcoetzee | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=How to Get It Down" by Glendinning, Vectoria – The Spectator, Vol. 289, Issue 9077, 2002 | website= | date=August 20, 2019 | url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-149165771/how-to-get-it-down | access-date=April 6, 2020 | archive-date=April 6, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406181037/https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-149165771/how-to-get-it-down | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Benedict teaches workshops on writing about sex in fiction at writers' conferences and has appeared on radio shows discussing the issue in the U.S., UK, and Australia.<ref name="NPR 1996">{{cite web | title=Program Listings for Weekend Edition Saturday | publisher=NPR | date=June 8, 1996 | url=https://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/rundowns/1996/jun.96/wesat.06.08.96.html | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="BBC 2004">{{cite web | author=BBC | title=Radio 4 – Woman's Hour -Joy of Writing Sex | website=BBC | date=November 12, 2004 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2002_26_tue_01.shtml | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Radio National 2009">{{cite web | title=Thursday 06 August 2009 | website=Radio National | date=August 6, 2009 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/bookshow/2009-08-06/3053166 | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref>

''The Joy of Writing Sex'' led ''The New York Observer'' to include Benedict on its panel on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, described in Francine Prose's article, "New York Supergals Love That Naughty Prez" Benedict defended then-President Clinton's conduct, saying "Nobody is aggrieved here. Monica's not complaining, Hillary's not complaining. The only person who cares is Ken Starr."<ref>{{cite news |last1=McManis |first1=Sam |title=Sex on the page: Often cringe-worthy, occasionally uplifting |url=https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/books/article18464246.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415113810/http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/books/article18464246.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |accessdate=January 6, 2020 |date=April 13, 2015 |work=Sacramento Bee}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McCrum |first1=Robert |title=How to Write a bestseller |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jun/09/features.review3 |accessdate=January 6, 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=June 9, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Prose |first1=Francine |title=New York Supergals Love That Naughty Prez |url=https://observer.com/1998/02/new-york-supergals-love-that-naughty-prez/ |accessdate=January 6, 2020 |newspaper=The New York Observer |date=February 9, 1998}}</ref> Benedict reaffirmed her defense of Clinton in a retrospective of the scandal on the ''Slate'' podcast "Slow Burn", in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Neyfakh |first1=Leon |title=Slow Burn: Bedfellows |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/slow-burn-season-2-episode-7-transcript.html |website=Slate |accessdate=January 6, 2020}}</ref>

Benedict's first memoir, ''Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own'', an account of her experience with lymphoma, was published in May 2023.<ref name="BostonGlobe"/><ref name="kirkusreviews.com"/>

In 2024, Benedict published an essay in Salmagundi about her personal correspondence with American writer James Salter, in which Salter discussed his complex feelings about his Jewish identity and decision to change his name from James Horowitz to James Salter. Salter had previously refused to discuss these matters publicly.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guest Column Becoming Unbecoming Jewish |url=https://salmagundi.skidmore.edu/articles/502-guest-column-becoming-unbecoming-jewish |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Salmagundi Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

Benedict's book reviews, personal essays, and articles have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''Salmagundi'', ''Tin House'', ''Daedalus'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Esquire'', ''Real Simple'', ''Allure'', ''The American Prospect'', and ''The Rumpus''. Her short fiction and memoir have appeared in ''Narrative Magazine''.<ref name="Benedict 2009">{{cite web | website=Narrative Magazine | date=May 9, 2009 | url=https://www.narrativemagazine.com/authors/elizabeth-benedict | title=Elizabeth Benedict | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref> thumb|Elizabeth Benedict speaking at Islanders Write in Martha's Vineyard, July 2022

=== Anthologies === Benedict is the editor of three anthologies. The first, ''Mentors, Muses and Monsters: 30 Writers on the People who Changed Their Lives'' (2009, Free Press, Simon & Schuster), was inspired by an essay she wrote for ''Tin House'' about her mentor at Barnard, Elizabeth Hardwick.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benedict |first1=Elizabeth |title=Magical Meetings |url=https://barnard.edu/headlines/magical-meetings |website=Barnard |publisher=Barnard |date=November 30, 2010}}</ref> It includes essays by other Barnard alumnae Mary Gordon and Sigrid Nunez. Nunez's essay on Susan Sontag was the inspiration for her 2011 memoir about Sontag, ''Sempre Susan''.<ref name="Force 2011">{{cite web | last=Force | first=Thessaly La | title=Sigrid Nunez on Susan Sontag | website=The Paris Review | date=April 4, 2011 | url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/04/04/sigrid-nunez-on-susan-sontag/ | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref>

Her second anthology, ''What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts that Mattered Most'' (2013 Algonquin Books), was a ''New York Times'' Bestseller.<ref name="Workman Publishing 2020">{{cite web | title=Workman Publishing | website=Workman Publishing | date=March 20, 2020 | url=https://www.workman.com/authors/elizabeth-benedict | access-date=April 7, 2020}}</ref> Her third, ''Me, My Hair and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession'' (2015, Algonquin Books) includes essays by Maria Hinojosa, Marita Golden, and Jane Smiley.

== Themes ==

Growing up in New York City has been a noted theme of Benedict's fiction and nonfiction. About her second novel, ''The Beginner's Book of Dreams'', ''Kirkus Reviews'' wrote: "Benedict handles Manhattan life, in this case a young girl's exploration of semi-fraudulent Manhattan life, superbly—with the vibrancy of The World of Henry Orient (that underappreciated book by Nora Johnson) or with the emotional dislocations of the better work of John O'Hara and Richard Yates."<ref name="Benedict">{{cite web | title = The Beginners Book of Dreams | last=Benedict | first=Elizabeth | website=Kirkus Reviews | url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/elizabeth-benedict-3/the-beginners-book-of-dreams/ | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref>thumb|Benedict at the 2019 Islander's Write Festival in Martha's Vineyard

Benedict's personal essay, "Murder One: Mad Dog Taborsky and Me" was published in ''Daedalus'' in 2008<ref name="JSTOR">{{cite journal | jstor=40543803 | title=Murder One: Mad Dog Taborsky & Me | last1=Benedict | first1=Elizabeth | journal=Daedalus | year=2008 | volume=137 | issue=3 | pages=115–124 | doi=10.1162/daed.2008.137.3.115 | s2cid=57559644 | doi-access=free }}</ref> and explored the effect of the murder of her mother's brother on her parents' marriage and her own life. In 1960, Joseph "Mad Dog" Taborsky was the last man executed in the state of Connecticut until 2005, after being released from death row for the murder of Benedict's uncle. Once released, he committed a series of murders that terrorized central Connecticut in 1956 and 1957.

== College essay coaching and teaching == Benedict is the founder and president of Don't Sweat the Essay, Inc., which focuses on coaching students for college and graduate school application essays. She has written frequently on the subject for ''Huffington Post''.<ref name="The Martha's Vineyard Times 2019">{{cite web | title=Getting into college | website=The Martha's Vineyard Times | date=July 24, 2019 | url=https://www.mvtimes.com/2019/07/24/getting-into-college/ | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="HuffPost">{{cite web | title=Contributor Elizabeth Benedict| website=HuffPost | url=https://www.huffpost.com/author/ebenedict-796 | access-date=April 6, 2020}}</ref>

Benedict has been on the fiction faculty of the New York State Summer Writers Institute, at Skidmore College, since 1997<ref name="Skidmore College">{{cite web | title=Writers Institute Faculty | publisher=Skidmore College | url=https://www.skidmore.edu/summerwriters/faculty.php | access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref>

== Bibliography == * ''Slow Dancing'' (1985) * ''The Beginner's Book of Dreams'' (1988) * ''Safe Conduct'' (1993) * ''The Joy of Writing Sex'' (1996, revised 2002) * ''Almost'' (2001) * ''The Practice of Deceit'' (2005) * ''Rewriting Illness: A View of My Own'' (2023) * ''Mentors, Muses and Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives'' (Editor) (2009) * ''What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Writers on the Gifts that Mattered Most'' (Editor) (2013) *'' Me, My Hair and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession'' (Editor) (2015)

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *[http://www.ElizabethBenedict.com Official website] *[https://observer.com/1998/02/new-york-supergals-love-that-naughty-prez/ New York City Supergals Love that Naughty Prez] in ''The New York Observer''

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Elizabeth}} Category:Living people Category:21st-century American women writers Category:American book editors Category:Skidmore College faculty Category:American women academics Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people)