# Lily King

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For the American swimmer, see [Lilly King](/source/Lilly_King).

**Lily King** (born 1963) is an American novelist.

## Early life

King grew up in [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts). She earned a [B.A.](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) in English literature from the [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill](/source/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill) and an [M.A.](/source/Master_of_Arts) in creative writing from [Syracuse University](/source/Syracuse_University).[1]

## Work

King's first novel, *The Pleasing Hour* (1999), won the [Barnes and Noble](/source/Barnes_%26_Noble) Discover Award and was a *[New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* Notable Book and an alternate for the [PEN/Hemingway Award](/source/PEN/Hemingway_Award). Her second novel, *The English Teacher*, was a *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)* Top Ten Book of the Year, a *[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)* Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Her third novel, *Father of the Rain* (2010), was a *New York Times* Editors Choice, a *Publishers Weekly* Best Novel of the Year, and winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction[2] and the Maine Fiction Award.[3]

King's fourth novel, *Euphoria* (2014), was inspired by events in the life of anthropologist [Margaret Mead](/source/Margaret_Mead).[4] It won the inaugural [Kirkus Prize for Fiction](/source/Kirkus_Prize)[5] and the 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction,[6] and was a finalist for the 2014 [National Book Critics Circle Award](/source/National_Book_Critics_Circle_Award).[7] *Euphoria* was listed among *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2014,[4] [TIME's](/source/Time_(magazine)) Top 10 Fiction Books of 2014,[8] and the Amazon Best Books of 2014.

King has received a MacDowell Fellowship[9] and a [Whiting Award](/source/Whiting_Awards).[10] Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines, including *[Ploughshares](/source/Ploughshares)* and *[Glimmer Train](/source/Glimmer_Train)*, as well as in anthologies. King's first collection of stories, *Five Tuesdays in Winter*, was published in 2021.[11] Her 2025 essay "The Teenage Love That Changed My Life" appeared in *[Vogue](/source/Vogue_(magazine))*.[12]

*[Heart the Lover](/source/Heart_the_Lover)* was longlisted for the 2025 [National Book Critics Circle Award](/source/National_Book_Critics_Circle_Award) for Fiction.[13]

## Awards

- 2026 International Book of the Year, [Australian Book Industry Awards](/source/Australian_Book_Industry_Awards) for *Heart of the Lover[14]*
- 2021 [Story Prize](/source/Story_Prize) finalist for *Five Tuesdays In Winter*
- 2014 [Kirkus Prize for Fiction](/source/Kirkus_Prize) for *Euphoria*
- 2014 [National Book Critics Circle Award](/source/National_Book_Critics_Circle_Award) finalist for *Euphoria*[7]
- 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction winner for *Euphoria*[6]
- 2010 Maine Fiction Award for “Father of the Rain”
- 2010 New England Book Award for “Father of the Rain”
- 2005 Maine Fiction Award for “The English Teacher”
- 2000 [Whiting Award](/source/Whiting_Awards)
- 1999 Barnes and Noble Discover Award for “The Pleasing Hour”
- 1995 MacDowell Fellowship

## Works

- *The Pleasing Hour: A Novel*. Simon and Schuster. 2000. ISBN 978-0-7432-0164-3.
- [*The English Teacher: A Novel*](https://archive.org/details/englishteacherno00king). Atlantic Monthly Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8711-3897-2.
- *Father of the Rain: A Novel*, [Grove/Atlantic](/source/Grove_Atlantic), 2010 ISBN 978-0-8021-1949-0
- *[Euphoria](/source/Euphoria_(King_novel))*, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-8021-2255-1
- *[Writers & Lovers](/source/Writers_%26_Lovers)*, Grove Press, 2020. ISBN 978-0-8021-4853-7
- *Five Tuesdays in Winter*, Grove Press, 2021. ISBN 978-0-8021-5876-5
- *[Heart the Lover](/source/Heart_the_Lover)*, Grove Press, 2025. ISBN 978-0-8021-6517-6[15][16][17][18]

## References

1. ["Lily King Bio"](https://lilykingbooks.com/bio). *Lily King*. Retrieved February 27, 2022.

1. ["New England Book Awards"](https://newenglandbooks.org/page/book-awards)

1. ["2011 Winners"](https://www.mainewriters.org/events/https/webarchiveorg/web/20191226180004/http/mainewritersorg/2011-maine-literary-awards). *[Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance](/source/Maine_Writers_%26_Publishers_Alliance)*. Retrieved February 27, 2022.

1. Eakin, Emily (June 6, 2014). ["Going Native: Euphoria, by Lily King"](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/books/review/euphoria-by-lily-king.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved May 16, 2016.

1. ["2014 Winner: Fiction"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170712042234/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/2014/finalists/fiction/). [Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews). Archived from [the original](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/2014/finalists/fiction/) on July 12, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2016.

1. ["New England Book Awards"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160521214828/http://www.newenglandbooks.org/BookAwards). New England Independent Booksellers Association. Archived from [the original](http://www.newenglandbooks.org/bookawards) on May 21, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2016.

1. Alter, Alexandra (March 12, 2015). ["Lila' Honored as Top Fiction by National Book Critics Circle"](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/books/lila-by-marilynne-robinson-honored-as-top-fiction-by-national-book-critics-circle.html?_r=0). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved May 16, 2016.

1. Grossman, Lev (December 2, 2014). ["Top 10 Everything of 2014: Top 10 Fiction Books"](http://time.com/3595139/top-10-fiction-books/). *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))*. Retrieved May 16, 2016.

1. ["Lily King - Artist"](https://www.macdowell.org/artists/lily-king). *MacDowell*. Retrieved February 27, 2022.

1. ["Lily King"](https://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/lily-king#/). *www.whiting.org*. Retrieved February 27, 2022.

1. O'Grady, Megan (November 9, 2021). ["Lily King Tries Her Hand at Something New: Short Stories"](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/books/review/lily-king-five-tuesdays-in-winter.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved February 2, 2022.

1. King, Lily (2025-09-30). ["The Teenage Love That Changed My Life"](https://www.vogue.com/article/lily-king-teenage-love-essay). *Vogue*. Retrieved 2025-10-14.

1. ["2025 Winners & Finalists, The National Book Critics Circle Awards"](https://www.bookcritics.org/past-awards/2025/). *bookcritics.org*Retrieved 2026-05-05.

1. ["Sworder wins ABIA Book of the Year"](https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2026/05/21/330206/sworder-wins-abia-book-of-the-year/). Books+Publishing. 2026-05-21. Retrieved 2026-05-25.

1. ["Review | Fans of ‘Writers & Lovers,’ rejoice: Lily King is back"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/09/23/heart-the-lover-lily-king-review/). *The Washington Post*. 2025-09-23. [ISSN 0190-8286](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0190-8286). Retrieved 2025-10-14.

1. McAlpin, Heller (2025-10-09). ["‘Heart the Lover’ Review: Young Love and What Comes After"](https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/heart-the-lover-review-young-love-and-what-comes-after-ab745b86). *The Wall Street Journal*. Retrieved 2025-10-14.

1. ["A Literary Love Triangle Like No Other"](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/books/review/lily-king-heart-the-lover.html). 2025-09-30. Retrieved 2025-10-14.

1. ["Lily King's new novel captures the highs and lows of a college romance"](https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/10/01/lily-king-heart-the-lover-book-review). *www.wbur.org*. 2025-10-01. Retrieved 2025-10-14.

## External links

- [Official website](http://www.lilykingbooks.com/)
- [Profile at The Whiting Foundation](http://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/lily-king#/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lily King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_King) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_King?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.