- Helen DeWitt
Helen DeWitt (born 1957 in
Takoma Park ,Maryland , a suburb ofWashington, D.C. ) is anovelist .DeWitt grew up primarily in
South America (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuadorcite news | first=James | last=Macgowan | title=After 50 attempts, Helen DeWitt's brainy prose gets brawny cash advances |work=The Ottawa Citizen |publisher=CanWest Interactive |date=2000-10-15 |accessdate=2007-01-23 ] ), as her parents worked in theUnited States diplomatic service. After a year atNorthfield Mount Hermon School and two short periods atSmith College , DeWitt studiedclassics at theUniversity of Oxford , first atLady Margaret Hall , and then atBrasenose College for her D.Phil.DeWitt is best known for her acclaimed debut novel, "The Last Samurai". She held a variety of jobs while struggling to finish a book, including a
dictionary text tagger, a copytaker, andDunkin' Donuts employee, she also worked in a laundry service. During this time she reportedly attempted to finish many novels, before finally completing "The Last Samurai", her 50th manuscript, in 1998.In 2005 she collaborated with
Ingrid Kerma , theLondon -based painter, writing “limit5” for the exhibition “Blushing Brides”.In 2004, DeWitt went missing from her home in
Staten Island . [cite news|first=Sabrina|last=Tavernise|work=New York Times - Late Edition|title=Metro Briefing New York: Staten Island: Novelist Is Reported Missing|date=2004-05-26|accessdate=2007-01-23] She was found unharmed a few days later atNiagara Falls . [cite news|last=Lemire|First=Jonathan|accessdate=2007-01-23|date=2004-05-27|title=Suicidal author found alive in Niagara Falls|work=New York Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/197393p-170445c.html]DeWitt lives in
Berlin where she has recently finished a second novel, "Your Name Here", in collaboration with the Australian journalistIlya Gridneff . DeWitt had met Gridneff in an East London pub shortly before her departure forNew York ; impressed by the linguistic virtuosity of his e-mails, she suggested a book inspired byCharlie Kaufman 's "Adaptation ", or "Being John Malkovich ", with Gridneff as Malkovich.Recently, rights to make a film of The Last Samurai have been optioned by
Tom Dey .An excerpt of "Your Name Here" has been published in the Winter 2008 issue of "n+1" magazine. [ [http://nplusonemag.com/?q=issue-six-mainstream Issue Six: Mainstream | n+1 ] ]
Novels
* "The Last Samurai" (2000)
* "YOUR NAME HERE" (2007)References
External links
* [http://helendewitt.com/ DeWitt's Web page]
* [http://www.helendewitt.com/synopsis3a.pdf Synopsis to YOUR NAME HERE!]
* [http://paperpools.blogspot.com/ DeWitt's blog]
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