# Lydia Davis

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American writer (born 1947)

This article is about the author. For the character on *Revenge*, see [List of Revenge characters § Recurring cast](/source/List_of_Revenge_characters#Recurring_cast). For the Cook Islands writer, see [Lydia Davis (Cook Islands writer)](/source/Lydia_Davis_(Cook_Islands_writer)).

Lydia Davis Davis in 2017 Born (1947-07-15) July 15, 1947 (age 78) Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. Occupation Writer Alma mater Barnard College Period 1976–present Genre Short story, novel, essay Spouses Paul Auster ​ ​ (m. 1974; div. 1977)​ Alan Cote Children 2 Relatives Robert Gorham Davis (father) Hope Hale Davis (mother) Claudia Cockburn (half-sister)

**Lydia Davis** (born July 15, 1947) is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, poet, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes very short stories.[1][2][3] Davis has produced several new translations of French literary classics, including *[Swann's Way](/source/In_Search_of_Lost_Time)* by [Marcel Proust](/source/Marcel_Proust) and *[Madame Bovary](/source/Madame_Bovary)* by [Gustave Flaubert](/source/Gustave_Flaubert).

## Early life and education

Davis was born in [Northampton, Massachusetts](/source/Northampton%2C_Massachusetts), on July 15, 1947.[4] She is the daughter of Robert Gorham Davis, a critic and professor of English, and [Hope Hale Davis](/source/Hope_Hale_Davis), a short-story writer, teacher, and memoirist.[5] Davis initially studied music, first piano, then violin, which was her first love.[6] On becoming a writer, Davis has said, "I was probably always headed to being a writer, even though that wasn't my first love. I guess I must have always wanted to write in some part of me or I wouldn't have done it."[7] From fifth to eighth grade, she attended [The Brearley School](/source/The_Brearley_School) in New York City. She attended high school at [The Putney School](/source/The_Putney_School), graduating in 1965. She studied at [Barnard College](/source/Barnard_College), and at that time she mostly wrote poetry.[6]

In 1974, Davis married [Paul Auster](/source/Paul_Auster), with whom she had a son named Daniel (1977–2022).[5][8] Auster and Davis later divorced; Davis is now married to the artist Alan Cote,[9] with whom she has another son, Theo Cote. She is a professor emerita at the [University at Albany, SUNY](/source/University_at_Albany%2C_SUNY),[10] and was a Lillian Vernon Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at [New York University](/source/New_York_University) in 2012.[11]

## Career

Davis has published six collections of fiction, including *The Thirteenth Woman and Other Stories* (1976) and *Break It Down* (1986), a finalist for the [PEN/Hemingway Award](/source/PEN%2FHemingway_Award). Her most recent collections were *Varieties of Disturbance*, a finalist for the [National Book Award](/source/National_Book_Award) published by [Farrar, Straus and Giroux](/source/Farrar%2C_Straus_and_Giroux) in 2007, and *Can't and Won't* (2013). *The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis* (2009) contains all her short fiction up to 2008.

Davis has also translated [Proust](/source/Marcel_Proust), [Flaubert](/source/Gustave_Flaubert), [Blanchot](/source/Maurice_Blanchot), [Foucault](/source/Michel_Foucault), [Michel Butor](/source/Michel_Butor), [Michel Leiris](/source/Michel_Leiris), [Pierre Jean Jouve](/source/Pierre_Jean_Jouve) and other [French writers](/source/French_literature),[4] as well as Belgian novelist [Conrad Detrez](/source/Conrad_Detrez) and the Dutch writer [A. L. Snijders](/source/A._L._Snijders).

She has written one novel, *[The End of the Story](/source/The_End_of_the_Story)*, which was published in 1995 by [Farrar, Straus and Giroux](/source/Farrar_Straus_%26_Giroux).[12]

## Reception and influence

Davis has been described as "the master of a literary form largely of her own invention."[13] Some of her "stories" are only one or two sentences. Davis has compared these works to skyscrapers in the sense that they are surrounded by an imposing blank expanse.[14] Writing in the *[Los Angeles Review of Books](/source/Los_Angeles_Review_of_Books)*, Michael LaPointe goes so far as to say while "Lydia Davis did not invent [flash fiction](/source/Flash_fiction), ... she is so far and away its most eminent contemporary practitioner".[3] Her "distinctive voice has never been easy to fit into conventional categories," writes Kasia Boddy in the *Columbia Companion to the 21st Century Short Story*. Boddy writes: "Davis's parables are most successful when they examine the problems of communication between men and women, and the strategies each uses to interpret the other's words and actions."[15] Of contemporary authors, only Davis, [Stuart Dybek](/source/Stuart_Dybek), and [Alice Fulton](/source/Alice_Fulton) share the distinction of appearing in both *[The Best American Short Stories](/source/The_Best_American_Short_Stories)* and *[The Best American Poetry](/source/The_Best_American_Poetry)* series.

In October 2003, Davis received a [MacArthur Fellowship](/source/MacArthur_Fellowship).[16] She was elected a fellow of the [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences) in 2005.[17] Davis was a distinguished speaker at the 2004 [&NOW Festival](/source/%26NOW_Festival) at the [University of Notre Dame](/source/University_of_Notre_Dame).[18] Davis was announced as the winner of the 2013 [Man Booker International Prize](/source/Man_Booker_International_Prize) on 22 May 2013.[19] The official announcement of Davis's award on the Man Booker Prize website described her work as having "the brevity and precision of poetry." The judging panel chair [Christopher Ricks](/source/Christopher_Ricks) commented, "There is vigilance to her stories, and great imaginative attention. Vigilance as how to realise things down to the very word or syllable; vigilance as to everybody's impure motives and illusions of feeling."[20] Davis won £60,000 as part of the biennial award.[21] She is widely considered "one of the most original minds in American fiction today."[22]

Davis declined to sell her book *Our Strangers* on [Amazon](/source/Amazon_(company)).[23][24]

Her collection *The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis* was listed as one of the "100 Best Books of the 21st Century" by *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*.[25]

### Awards

- 1986 PEN/Hemingway Award finalist, for *Break It Down*[4]

- 1988 [Whiting Award](/source/Whiting_Awards) for Fiction[5]

- "St. Martin," a short story that first appeared in *Grand Street*, was included in *[The Best American Short Stories 1997](/source/The_Best_American_Short_Stories_1997)*.

- 1997 Guggenheim Fellowship

- 1998 Lannan Literary Award for Fiction[4]

- 1999 Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for fiction and translation.[16]

- "Betrayal," a short-short story that first appeared in *Hambone*, was included in *The Best American Poetry* 1999

- "A Mown Lawn," a short-short-story that first appeared in *McSweeney's*, was included in *The Best American Poetry* 2001

- 2003 [MacArthur Fellows Program](/source/MacArthur_Fellows_Program)[16]

- 2007 National Book Award Fiction finalist, for *Varieties of Disturbance: Stories*[26]

- "Men," a short-short story that first appeared in *32 Poems*, was included in *The Best American Poetry* 2008

- 2013 [American Academy of Arts and Letters](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Letters)' Award of Merit Medal[27]

- 2013 [Philolexian Society](/source/Philolexian_Society) Award for Distinguished Literary Achievement

- 2013 [Man Booker International Prize](/source/Man_Booker_International_Prize)[19]

- 2020 [PEN/Malamud Award](/source/PEN%2FMalamud_Award)[28]

## Selected works

- *The Thirteenth Woman and Other Stories*, Living Hand, 1976[4]

- *Sketches for a Life of Wassilly*. Station Hill Press. 1981. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-930794-45-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-930794-45-3).

- *Story and Other Stories*. The Figures. 1983. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-935724-17-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-935724-17-2).

- [*Break It Down*](https://archive.org/details/breakitdownstori00davi). Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1986. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-374-11653-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-374-11653-9).

- *[The End of the Story](/source/The_End_of_the_Story)*. Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1995. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-374-14831-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-374-14831-7). [OL](/source/OL_(identifier)) [ia:endofstory00davi](https://openlibrary.org/books/ia%3Aendofstory00davi). (novel)

- *Almost No Memory*. Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1997. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-374-10281-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-374-10281-4).

- [*Samuel Johnson Is Indignant*](https://archive.org/details/samueljohnsonisi00davi). McSweeney's. 2001. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9703355-9-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9703355-9-3).

- *[Varieties of Disturbance](/source/Varieties_of_Disturbance)*. Farrar Straus & Giroux. May 15, 2007. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-374-28173-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-374-28173-1).

- *Proust, Blanchot, and a Woman in Red*. Center for Writers and Translators. 2007. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780955296352](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780955296352).

- *The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis*. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 2009. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-374-27060-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-374-27060-5).[29]

- *The Cows*. Sarabande Books. 2011. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781932511932](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781932511932). (republished in *Can't and Won't*)

- *Lydia Davis: Documenta Series 078*. Hatje Cantz. 2012. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9783775729277](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783775729277)

- *Two American Scenes*. New Directions. 2013. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780811220415](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780811220415). (co-written with [Eliot Weinberger](/source/Eliot_Weinberger))

- *Can't and Won't: Stories*. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2014. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780374118587](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780374118587).

- *Essays One*. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2019. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780374148850](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780374148850).

- *Essays Two*. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2021. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780374148867](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780374148867).

- *Our Strangers: Stories*. Bookshop Editions. 2023. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9798987717103](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9798987717103).[30][31][32]

- *Into the Weeds.* [Yale University Press](/source/Yale_University_Press), 2025. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780300279740](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780300279740)

### Anthologies

- Bill Henderson, ed. (1989). [*The Pushcart prize: best of the small presses*](https://archive.org/details/pushcartprizexiv0000unse). Pushcart Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-916366-58-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-916366-58-2).

- E. Annie Proulx, Katrina Kenison, ed. (1997). "St. Martin". [*The Best American Short Stories 1997*](https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_i0f5). Houghton Mifflin. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-395-79866-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-395-79866-9).

- Robert Hass; David Lehman, eds. (2001). "A Mown Lawn". [*The Best American Poetry 2001*](https://archive.org/details/bestamericanpoet0000unse_l6n5). Simon and Schuster. p. [67](https://archive.org/details/bestamericanpoet0000unse_l6n5/page/67). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7432-0384-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7432-0384-5). Lydia Davis.

- Charles Wright; David Lehman, eds. (2008). ["Men"](https://books.google.com/books?id=xIQtFKnRcpcC&q=Lydia%20Davis&pg=PT48). *The Best American Poetry 2008*. Simon and Schuster. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7432-9975-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7432-9975-6).

### Selected translations

- Jean Chesneaux, Françoise Le Barbier, Marie-Claire Bergère (1977). [*China from the 1911 Revolution to Liberation*](https://archive.org/details/chinafrom1911rev0000ches/). Translators Paul Auster and Lydia Davis. Pantheon Books.{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

- [Georges Simenon](/source/Georges_Simenon) (1979). [*Aboard the Aquitaine (Simenon African Trio)*](https://archive.org/details/africantriotalat00sime). Translators Paul Auster and Lydia Davis. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-15-103955-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-15-103955-0).

- Claude Nori (1979). *French Photography, from Its Origins to the Present*. Translator Lydia Davis. Pantheon Press.

- Attilio Colombo (1979). *Fantastic Photographs.* Translator Lydia Davis. Pantheon Books.

- Maurice Blanchot (1981). P. Adams Sitney (ed.). *The Gaze of Orpheus, and Other Literary Essays*. Translator Lydia Davis. Station Hill Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0930794378](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0930794378).

- Joseph Joubert (1983). Paul Auster (ed.). *The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert*. Translator Paul Auster. North Point Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0865471088](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0865471088). (Davis translated the 19-page afterword by Maurice Blanchot, "Joubert et l'espace.")

- [Conrad Detrez](/source/Conrad_Detrez) (1984). *A Weed for Burning*. Translator Lydia Davis. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

- [Michel Butor](/source/Michel_Butor) (1986). *The Spirit of Mediterranean Places*. Translator Lydia Davis. Marlboro Press.

- Conrad Detrez (1986). *Zone of Fire*. Translator Lydia Davis. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

- [Françoise Giroud](/source/Fran%C3%A7oise_Giroud) (1986). [*Marie Curie: A Life*](https://archive.org/details/mariecurielife00giro). Translator Lydia Davis. Holmes & Meier. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0841909776](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0841909776).

- Maurice Blanchot (1987). *The Last Man.* Translator Lydia Davis. Columbia University Press.

- André Jardin (1988). *Tocqueville: A Biography*. Translator Lydia Davis. Farrar Straus Giroux. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0374521905](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0374521905).

- Michel Leiris (1989). *Brisées: Broken Branches.* Translator Lydia Davis. North Point Press.

- Pierre Jean Jouve (1996). [*The Desert World*](https://archive.org/details/desertworld00jouv_0). Translator Lydia Davis. Marlboro Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0810160187](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0810160187).

- Pierre Jean Jouve (1997). *Hecate: The Adventure of Catherine Crachat: I*. Translator Lydia Davis. Marlboro Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0810160385](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0810160385).

- Michel Leiris (1991) *The Rules of the Game: Scratches.* Translator Lydia Davis. Paragon House.

- Pierre Jean Jouve (1993). *Hélène*. Translator Lydia Davis. Marlboro Press.

- Michel Leiris (1997) *The Rules of the Game: Scraps.* Translator Lydia Davis. Johns Hopkins University Press.

- Michel Leiris (2017) *The Rules of the Game: Fibrils.* Translator Lydia Davis. Yale University Press.

- Marcel Proust (2004). Lydia Davis; Christopher Prendergast (eds.). *Swann's Way*. Translated by Lydia Davis. Penguin Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-14-243796-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-243796-4).

- [Vivant Denon](/source/Vivant_Denon) (2009). [Peter Brooks](/source/Peter_Brooks_(writer)) (ed.). *No Tomorrow*. Translated by Lydia Davis. New York Review of Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-59017-326-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59017-326-8).

- Gustave Flaubert (2010). Lydia Davis (ed.). *Madame Bovary*. Translated by Lydia Davis. Viking Adult. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-670-02207-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-670-02207-6).

- Ollivant, Alfred (2014). *Bob, Son of Battle: The Last Gray Dog of Kenmuir*. New York Review Children's Collection. Translated by Lydia Davis. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781590177297](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781590177297).

- Snijders, A.L. (2016). *Grasses and Trees*. Translated by Lydia Davis. AFDH. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789072603586](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789072603586).

- Snijders, A.L. (2021). *Night Train.* Translated by Lydia Davis. New Directions.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Crum, Maddie (Jun 13, 2014). ["Read 15 Amazing Works Of Fiction In Less Than 30 Minutes"](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/13/flash-fiction_n_5481868.html). Retrieved Oct 21, 2019 – via Huff Post.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Leslie, Nathan. "That 'V' Word.". Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction. Ed. Masih, Tara L. Brookline, MA, USA: Rose Metal Press, 2009, 8-9; 11-14.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-lareviewofbooks.org_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-lareviewofbooks.org_3-1) LaPointe, Michael (2 April 2014). ["The Book Gets Fatter: Lydia Davis's "Can't and Won't""](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/book-gets-fatter/). *Los Angeles Review of Books*. Retrieved Oct 21, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ILFB_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ILFB_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ILFB_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-ILFB_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-ILFB_4-4) ["Internationales literaturfestival Berlin – Lydia Davis"](http://www.literaturfestival.com/participants/authors/2001/lydia-davis). Internationales literaturfestival Berlin. Retrieved 2013-05-23.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-CL-Int_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-CL-Int_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-CL-Int_5-2) Knight, Christopher J. (1999). "An Interview with Lydia Davis". *Contemporary Literature*. **40** (4): 525–551. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/1208793](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1208793). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [1208793](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1208793).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Miller,_Michael_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Miller,_Michael_6-1) Miller, Michael. ["Lydia Davis: Storytelling, a Strange Impulse"](https://magazine.032c.com/magazine/storytelling-a-strange-impulse-lydia-davis). 032c. Retrieved 25 April 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Miller, Michael. ["Lydia Davis: Storytelling, a Strange Impulse"](https://magazine.032c.com/magazine/storytelling-a-strange-impulse-lydia-davis//). 032c. Retrieved 25 April 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Vadukul, Alex (2022-07-27). ["The Life and Death of Daniel Auster, a Son of Literary Brooklyn"](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/style/daniel-auster-life-death.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2023-01-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ind-Man_9-0)** Sherwin, Adam (2013-05-23). ["World's most concise short story writer Lydia Davis wins Booker International Prize 2013"](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/worlds-most-concise-short-story-writer-lydia-davis-wins-booker-international-prize-2013-8627388.html). Independent. Retrieved 2013-05-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Lydia Davis"](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/people/lydia-davis). *The Poetry Foundation*. Retrieved 2024-11-29.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NYU_11-0)** ["Lydia Davis is Lillian Vernon Distinguished Writer-in-Residence"](http://cwp.as.nyu.edu/object/cwp.announcements.Davis). New York University. Retrieved 2013-05-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Thursday, July 13, 2023: Maximum Shelf: Our Strangers"](https://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-issue.html?issue=526). *www.shelf-awareness.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Teicher, Craig Morgan (October 11, 2009). ["Collected Stories of Lydia Davis"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222053/http://www.cleveland.com/bookreviews/plaindealer/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fentertainment-1%2F1255163642224190.xml&coll=2). *The Plain Dealer*. Archived from [the original](http://www.cleveland.com/bookreviews/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1255163642224190.xml&coll=2) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** 032c.com. ["LYDIA DAVIS: Storytelling, a Strange Impulse"](http://032c.com/2013/storytelling-a-strange-impulse-lydia-davis/). Retrieved 17 July 2014.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Boddy, Kasia (2000-01-01). "Lydia Davis (1947– )". In Gelfant, Blanche (ed.). *The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story*. Columbia University Press. pp. 219–223. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.7312/gelf11098](https://doi.org/10.7312%2Fgelf11098). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780231504959](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780231504959). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [10.7312/gelf11098.42](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/gelf11098.42).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Believer_16-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Believer_16-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Believer_16-2) ["Interview with LYDIA DAVIS"](http://www.believermag.com/issues/200801/?read=interview_davis). The Believer. Retrieved 2013-05-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-AAAS_17-0)** ["Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter D"](http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterD.pdf) (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 April 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-&Now_18-0)** ["&Now Program Schedule"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121015191925/http://www.nd.edu/~andnow/schedule.html). *&Now 2004*. University of Notre Dame. Archived from [the original](http://www.nd.edu/~andnow/schedule.html) on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-2013win_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-2013win_19-1) Stock, Jon (2013-05-22). ["Man Booker International Prize 2013: Lydia Davis wins"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10074108/Man-Booker-International-Prize-2013-Lydia-Davis-wins.html). Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-05-22.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Prize2013_20-0)** ["Lydia Davis wins the Man Booker International Prize 2013"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140826185202/http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/lydia-davis-wins-man-booker-international-prize-2013). Man Brooker Prize. 2013-05-22. Archived from [the original](http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/lydia-davis-wins-man-booker-international-prize-2013) on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2013-05-22.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Man Booker International prize goes to Lydia Davis"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22625777). *BBC News*. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Goodyear, Dana (Mar 10, 2014). ["Long Story Short"](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/17/long-story-short). *The New Yorker*. Retrieved Oct 21, 2019 – via www.newyorker.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Meyer, Lily (2023-09-28). ["Why You Can't Buy Lydia Davis's New Book on Amazon"](https://www.thenation.com/?post_type=article&p=463178). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0027-8378](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0027-8378). Retrieved 2023-11-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Clark, Alex (2023-09-30). ["'I'm not worried about fame or glory': Lydia Davis, the author who has refused to sell her book on Amazon"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/30/im-not-worried-about-fame-or-glory-lydia-davis-the-author-who-has-refused-to-sell-her-book-on-amazon). *The Guardian*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0261-3077](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 2023-11-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** The New York Times Book Staff (8 July 2024). ["100 Best Books of the 21st Century"](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html). *The New York Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NBA_26-0)** Johnston, Bret Anthony. ["2007 National Book Award Fiction Finalist Interview With Lydia Davis"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130831134222/http://nationalbook.org/nba2007_f_davis_interv.html). National Book Foundation. Archived from [the original](http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2007_f_davis_interv.html) on 2013-08-31. Retrieved 2013-05-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** ["The American Academy of Arts and Letters Announces 2013 Literature Award Winners and Inaugural E. B. White Award"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150313042256/http://www.artsandletters.org/press_releases/2013literature.php). American Academy of Arts and Letters. 2013-03-13. Archived from [the original](http://www.artsandletters.org/press_releases/2013literature.php) on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2013-05-27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** ["2020 Winner"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190731195428/https://www.penfaulkner.org/pen-malamud-award/2018-winners/). The PEN/Faulkner Foundation. Archived from [the original](https://www.penfaulkner.org/pen-malamud-award/2018-winners/) on 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2020-08-25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** ["The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis By Lydia Davis"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150905084326/http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com:80/book-review/collected-stories-lydia-davis/lydia-davis). *Bookmarks*. Archived from [the original](http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com/book-review/collected-stories-lydia-davis/lydia-davis) on 5 Sep 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Leu, Chelsea (2023-10-04). ["Life Is Boring. Lydia Davis's New Book Makes That Fascinating"](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/04/books/review/our-strangers-lydia-davis.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2023-11-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Athitakis, Mark (2023-10-04). ["How to skewer life's absurdities while thumbing your nose at Amazon"](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2023-10-04/how-to-nail-lifes-verbal-absurdities-while-thumbing-your-nose-at-amazon). *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved 2023-11-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** McAlpin, Heller (October 3, 2023). ["In 'Our Strangers,' life's less exciting aspects are deemed fascinating"](https://www.npr.org/2023/10/03/1200166716/book-review-our-strangers-lydia-davis). *NPR*.

## Further reading

- Evans, Jonathan, *The Many Voices of Lydia Davis: Translation, Rewriting, and Intertextuality*, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016.

- [Goodyear, Dana](/source/Dana_Goodyear) (March 17, 2014). ["Long story short : Lydia Davis's radical fiction"](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/17/long-story-short). Life and Letters. *The New Yorker*. Vol. 90, no. 4. pp. 24–30.

## External links

- [Finding aid to Lydia Davis papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.](https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_13607308)

- ["Lydia Davis, Art of Fiction No. 227"](http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6366/art-of-fiction-no-227-lydia-davis). *[The Paris Review](/source/The_Paris_Review)* (Interview). No. 212. Interviewed by Andrea Aguilar and Johanne Fronth-Nygren. Spring 2015.

- "Fear" and four other stories, Conjunctions, [Five Stories, by Lydia Davis | Conjunctions — The forum for innovative writing](http://www.conjunctions.com/print/article/lydia-davis-c24)

- ["Almost No Memory"](http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/lydia-davis-2/). *Bookworm* (Interview). Interviewed by [Michael Silverblatt](/source/Michael_Silverblatt). KCRW. September 1998.

- ["Samuel Johnson Is Indignant"](http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/lydia-davis/). *Bookworm* (Interview). Interviewed by [Michael Silverblatt](/source/Michael_Silverblatt). KCRW. July 2002.

- ["Varieties of Disturbance"](http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/lydia-davis-1/). *Bookworm* (Interview). Interviewed by [Michael Silverblatt](/source/Michael_Silverblatt). KCRW. June 2007.

- ["Can't and Won't"](http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/lydia-davis-cant-and-wont/). *Bookworm* (Interview). Interviewed by [Michael Silverblatt](/source/Michael_Silverblatt). KCRW. June 2014.

- ["Negative Emotions." *Coffin Factory* (short story)](https://archive.today/20130411230123/http://thecoffinfactory.com/fiction-negative-emotions-by-lydia-davis/)

- [*The Believer* interview with Sarah Manguso](http://www.believermag.com/issues/200801/?read=interview_davis)

- [Samuel Johnson Is Indignant – TMO Meets Lydia Davis](http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/article_lydia_davis_samuel_johnson_is_indignant.htm)

- [*BOMB* interview with Francine Prose](http://bombsite.com/issues/60/articles/2086) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110209115019/http://bombsite.com/issues/60/articles/2086) 2011-02-09 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [*Gigantic* interview with James Yeh](http://thegiganticmag.com/magazine/articleDetail.php?p=articleDetail&id=159)

- ["Q&A with Lydia Davis", *The Boston Globe*, Kate Bolick, April 29, 2007](https://web.archive.org/web/20120130021737/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/04/29/qa_with_lydia_davis/)

- ["2007 National Book Award Fiction Finalist Interview With Lydia Davis", *National Book Foundation*](http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2007_f_davis_interv.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130831134222/http://nationalbook.org/nba2007_f_davis_interv.html) 2013-08-31 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- ["Structure Is Structure", *Poetry Foundation*](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=181391)

- ["A Conversation with Lydia Davis", *Web Del Sol*](http://www.webdelsol.com/Literary_Dialogues/interview-wds-davis.htm)

- [Audio-files @ PENNsound](http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Davis.html) listen to Lydia Davis read from her work

- [Author Page at *Internationales Literatufestival Berlin*](http://www.literaturfestival.com/bios1_3_6_516.html) Davis was a Guest of the ILB ( *Internationales Literatufestival Berlin* / Germany ) in 2001

- ["Lydia Davis", *Penn Sound*](http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Davis.php)

- [Lydia Davis: Reading 'Goodbye Louise'](http://channel.louisiana.dk/video/lydia-davis-reading-goodbye-louise) Video by [Louisiana Channel](/source/Louisiana_Channel)

- [Profile at The Whiting Foundation](http://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/lydia-davis#/)

- [MacArthur Foundation](https://www.macfound.org/fellows/705/)

- [SUNY Albany](https://www.albany.edu/english/davis_l.php)

- [Lannan Foundation](https://lannan.org/literary/detail/lydia-davis/fiction-award)

- [Kelly House Writers](http://writing.upenn.edu/wh/people/fellows/davis.html)

- [New Yorker - Long Story Short](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/17/long-story-short)

- [MacMillan Publishers](https://us.macmillan.com/author/lydiadavis/)

- [Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/127387/lydia-davis)

- [Encyclopedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lydia-Davis)

- [Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/lydia-davis)

v t e International Booker Prize winners 2005–2016 Ismail Kadare (2005) Chinua Achebe (2007) Alice Munro (2009) Philip Roth (2011) Lydia Davis (2013) László Krasznahorkai (2015) 2016–present The Vegetarian (2016) A Horse Walks Into a Bar (2017) Flights (2018) Celestial Bodies (2019) The Discomfort of Evening (2020) At Night All Blood Is Black (2021) Tomb of Sand (2022) Time Shelter (2023) Kairos (2024) Heart Lamp (2025) Taiwan Travelogue (2026)

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