Literary Birthday – 16 May – Jean Hanff Korelitz

Happy Birthday, Jean Hanff Korelitz, born on 16 May 1961.

Jean Hanff Korelitz Quotes

1. I was a Literary Novelist, as any poet who forswears poetry would be. I wrote lyrical sentences, laden with imagery, and declined the degradations of plot….They were rejected by every publisher in America, and a few in England as well. (Crime Time)
2. So I wrote another novel. Ethereal language? Um, no. Absence of story? Most definitely not. The book I produced was — somewhat to my surprise — a Legal Thriller. I had no background as an attorney, and I had no experience writing a twisty, suspenseful plot. But I did have an idea, and the idea turned into a story, and the story turned into a novel called A Jury of Her Peers. (Crime Time)
3. I’d discovered that plot was not my enemy. A fine and unexpected plot twist was a glorious thing! (Crime Time)
4. For me, a novel has always begun with an idea, a character, a set of circumstances. I’m fascinated by people who lie and are lied to (this includes lies we tell ourselves), and by the courage required to not only weather adversity but grow from it. (Crime Time)
5. I hope that any reader who picks up You Should Have Known, having been lured by its designation as a Thriller, will understand the care that went into writing every sentence. I hope that any reader of Literary Fiction who reads the novel shares my appreciation for a plot twist. Because at the end of the day, there’s very little in life that’s as satisfying as a great plot twist. (Crime Time)
6. My mother was a therapist, and we would often talk about the people in her practice… She kept telling us these stories, my sister and me, because she wanted us to be aware that these people were out there, and they were deeply charming people, and yet they lacked any ability to empathise or think of anyone but themselves. These people were all around us, and they could not be fixed. It was in their wiring, and they were capable of causing incredible distress in the world. I’ve always been fascinated by that. I have never stopped reading about them or thinking about them. The education is ongoing. (St John’s College)
7. I’m very interested in academic settings. Obviously, I’m very interested in intellectual thefts, especially plagiarism. But liars, people who lie, are just the most fascinating people to me, and I have no doubt that I’ll continue to write about them for the rest of my writing life.(St John’s College)
8. I need good writing. I need well-made sentences. I need to feel that everything on the page is supposed to be there. But I also need to be surprised as a writer. There’s nothing more gratifying than hearing from readers how shocked they are by where the story goes. To be shocked and kind of fulfilled, it’s a real hat trick to pull that off, and it took many, many years to get to a place where I was able to write novels that did that. (St John’s College)
9. I didn’t go the MFA route, myself, but I did take a creative writing class in college and I learned something very important in that classroom, which was that I was allowed to make things up. It seems so obvious, but in my own case, I required someone to explain that to me, and I’m grateful to this day that my teacher did. (Celadon Books)

Jean Hanff Korelitz is an American novelist, playwright, theatre producer, and essayist best known for her psychological suspense thrillers and literary fiction. She is the author of nine novels, including The Sequel, The Latecomer and The Plot. Both The Plot and The Latecomer are in development for film or television adaptations. Her novel You Should Have Known was adapted into the 2020 HBO limited series The Undoing, while Admission became the 2013 film starring Tina Fey. Her work has been translated into more than 30 languages and is known for combining high-stakes suspense with rich character exploration. Her stories examine themes of deception, hidden truths, ambition, and literary life. Together with her husband, Irish poet Paul Muldoon, she adapted The Dead by James Joyce into an immersive theatre production staged by Irish Repertory Theatre in New York City. Follow her on Instagram.

Source for image: Author’s Website

by Amanda Patterson

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