Katherine Vaz

American writer (born 1955)
Christopher Cerf
​
(m. 2015)​

Katherine Vaz (born August 26, 1955) is a Portuguese-American writer. A Briggs-Copeland Fellow in Fiction at Harvard University (2003–2009), a 2006–2007 Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study,[1] and the Fall, 2012 Harman Fellow at Baruch College in New York,[2] she is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Above the Salt, which was chosen as one of People Magazine's Best New Books to Read in November, 2023.[3]

Vaz's novel Saudade (St. Martin’s Press, 1994) is the first contemporary novel about Portuguese-Americans from a major New York publisher. It was optioned by Marlee Matlin/Solo One Productions and selected in the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers series.[4]

Her novel, Mariana, (HarperCollins, 1997), was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the Top 30 International Books of 1998 and has been translated into six languages.[1]

Vaz's first short story collection Fado & Other Stories received the 1997 Drue Heinz Literature Prize[5] and her second collection, Our Lady of the Artichokes, won the 2007 Prairie Schooner Book Prize.[6]

Vaz is a recipient of a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1993) [7] and the Davis Humanities Institute Fellowship (1999). She has been named by the Luso-Americano as one of the Top 50 Luso-Americanos of the twentieth century [8] and is the first Portuguese-American to have her work recorded for the Library of Congress, housed in the Hispanic Division. The Portuguese-American Women’s Association (PAWA) named her 2003 Woman of the Year.[9] She was appointed to the six-person U.S. Presidential Delegation to open the American Pavilion at the World’s Fair/Expo 98 in Lisbon.[10] She lives in New York City and the Springs area of East Hampton with Christopher Cerf, whom she married in July 2015.[11]

Awards

Accolades

  • Vaz is the first Portuguese-American writer to have work recorded for the Archives of the Library of Congress
  • Named one of the top fifty Luso-Americans of the 20th century by LusoAmericano Magazine
  • Named by the Portuguese Leadership Council of the U.S. as one of the All-Time Most Influential Lusa Women
  • Appointed to the six-person Presidential Delegation to open the U.S. pavilion at Expo 98/World's Fair in Lisbon[13]
  • Above the Salt chosen as one of People Magazine's Best New Books to Read in Nov. 2023[14]

Published works

Novels

  • Saudade (St. Martin’s Press, June 1994)
  • Mariana (HarperCollins/Flamingo, 1997)
  • Above the Salt (Flatiron Books, MacMillan, 2023)

Story collections

Short stories

  • "I Can’t Keep Anything Nice in This House" (Descant, Fort Worth, TX, Fall/Winter 1986)
  • "What I Did on My Christmas Vacation" (Proof Rock, Halifax, VA, Winter 1988)
  • "Original Sin" (Black Ice, Belmont, MA, 1988)
  • "A Little Irish Water Music" (The Sun, March 1988)
  • "Sostenuto" (Kalliope, Jacksonville, FL, February 1988)
  • "Fado" (TriQuarterly, Fall 1989)
  • "Cartooning is Dead" (Primavera, Ann Arbor, MI, 1989)
  • "Add Blue to Make White Whiter" (Other Voices, Summer/Fall 1990)
  • "Red Tide" (Webster Review, Webster Groves, MO, Spring 1991)
  • "Still Life" (The American Voice, Louisville, KY, 1993)
  • "Scalings" (The Gettysburg Review, Spring 1995)
  • "The Birth of Water Stories" (Speak, San Francisco, CA, October 1996)
  • "Island Fever" (Nimrod, Tulsa, OK, Fall/Winter 1996)
  • "The Lost Love Letter of a Nun" (Madame Class Magazine, Milan, Italy, August 1997)
  • "Michigan Girl" (The Iowa Review, December 2000)
  • "Utter" (The Malahat Review, Fall 2000)
  • "The Man Who Was Made of Netting" (Tin House, January 2001)
  • "My Family, Posing for Rodin" (The Antioch Review, Summer 2001)
  • "Taking a Stitch in a Dead Man’s Arm" (BOMB, Winter 2001)
  • "Blue Flamingo Looks At Red Water" (The Sun May, 2002)
  • "The Glass-Eaters" (Glimmer Train, Fall 2002)
  • "Bébé Marie Springs from the Box" (ACM (Another Chicago Magazine), Fall 2002)
  • "Annette Kellermann Is My Hero" (The Alaska Quarterly Review, Spring 2003)
  • "Pavane for a Dead Princess" (Kalliope, Spring 2003)
  • "the rice artist" (The Iowa Review, August 2003)
  • "Burning Sailor Boy" (Provincetown Arts, Summer 2003)
  • "Our Lady of the Artichokes" (Pleiades, Fall 2003)
  • "The Love Life of an Assistant Animator" (Glimmer Train, Fall 2003)
  • "A Simple Affair" (Gargoyle Magazine, May 2004)
  • "The Knife Longs for the Ruby" (Ninth Letter, Spring 2004)
  • "Our Bones Here Are Waiting for Yours" (Five Points, 2004)
  • "East Bay Grease" (The Antioch Review, Summer 2004)
  • "One Must Speak of Sex in French" (Confrontation, Fall 2004/Winter 2005)
  • "All Riptides Roar with Sand from Opposing Shores" (Notre Dame Review, Winter 2006)
  • "Lisbon Story" (Harvard Review, Spring 2006)

Non-fiction

  • "Songs of the Soul, Songs of the Night," The New York Times, Sophisticated Traveler Magazine, September 18, 1994
  • Signatures of Grace (Dutton, 2000). Essay on Baptism. (In conjunction with Mary Gordon, Andre Dubus, Patricia Hampl, Ron Hansen, Paula Huston, Paul Mariani).
  • "Carving the Fruitstones," for anthology about short fiction, 2004, Greenwood Publications.
  • "This Howling," essay on the Azores/introduction to novel by João de Melo (My World Is Not of This Kingdom, translated from Portuguese by Gregory Rabassa), Aliform Press, 2003.

Children's literature

  • "The Kingdom of Melting Glances" short story in A Wolf at the Door (Simon & Schuster, 2000, in fourth printing)
  • "A World Painted by Birds" in Green Man anthology (Viking, 2002)
  • "My Swan Sister," title story in Swan Sister and Other Stories (Simon & Schuster, 2003)
  • "Your Garnet Eyes,"in anthology Faery Reel, (Viking, 2004)
  • "Chamber Music for Animals," in Coyote Road anthology (Viking, 2006)

Critical response

Vaz's novel "Saudade" received positive reviews, earning an average 4/5 stars on Goodreads.[15] According to the Library Journal, “This wonderfully inventive novel, which contains elements of magic realism, is infused with a sense of saudade-a Portuguese word that, according to the author, can be understood as an extremely intense longing for a time, place, or people... First novelist Vaz has written a challenging and rewarding work of fiction.”[16]

Her novel "Mariana" also received positive reviews, with an average 3.6 stars.[17] Her most recent novel, "Above the Salt," has received an average of 3.75 stars on Goodreads.[18] According to Maaza Mengiste, “Katherine Vaz writes with piercing, startling beauty: every sentence suffused with longing, every moment shining with possibility. In Above the Salt she offers us a story of discovery and loss, and the fragile but unwavering bonds of love that endure, despite it all. Vaz’s Saudade is a novel that has stayed with me for decades. In this latest book, Katherine Vaz has confirmed herself as one of our best writers.” [19]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "Radcliffe Institute Fellows - Katherine Vaz". Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  2. ^ "The Sidney Harman Writer-In-Residence Program". Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  3. ^ "PEOPLE's Best New Books to Read in Nov. 2023". People.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Rediscover the bright new literary lights of years past with this retrospective of previous Discover Great New Writers selections". Archived from the original on 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  5. ^ "Browse". Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  6. ^ a b "Prairie Schooner | Stories, Poems, Essays, and Reviews since 1926". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  7. ^ "National Endowment for the Arts" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  8. ^ "Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture".
  9. ^ "None".
  10. ^ "2006–2007 Radcliffe Institute Fellows - Katherine Vaz". Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  11. ^ Nir, Sarah Maslin (2015-07-10). "Katherine Vaz and Christopher Cerf: Kermit Will Attend". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  12. ^ "Within the Lighted City". Women's Review of Books. 1998-03-01. Katherine Vaz achieves this broader scope in Fado and Other Stories, a first collection that won the 1997 Drue Heinz Literature Prize.
  13. ^ "ABOUT". KatherineVaz.com. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  14. ^ "PEOPLE's Best New Books to Read in Nov. 2023". People.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Saudade". Goodreads. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Katherine Vaz". The Shipman Agency. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Mariana". Goodreads. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Above the Salt". Goodreads. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Katherine Vaz". The Shipman Agency. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
  • ISNI
  • VIAF
  • WorldCat
National
  • Israel
  • United States
  • Greece
  • Korea
  • Netherlands
Other
  • SNAC
  • IdRef