Edith Pearlman

Edith Ann Pearlman (née Grossman; June 26, 1936 – January 1, 2023) was an American short story writer.

Early life and career
Pearlman was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where she grew up in a middle-class Jewish neighborhood, the daughter of Edna (Rosen) and Herman Paul Grossman, an ophthalmologist. Her father was born in Ukraine, and her maternal grandparents emigrated from Poland. She graduated from Radcliffe College. She has worked in a computer firm and a soup kitchen and has served in the Town Meeting of Brookline, Massachusetts.

Her non-fiction has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Smithsonian Magazine, Preservation, and Ploughshares. Her travel writing – about the Cotswolds, Budapest, Jerusalem, Paris, and Tokyo – has been published in The New York Times and elsewhere.

In January 2015, her fifth collection of short stories, Honeydew, was chosen as one of Oprah Winfrey's 'top 19 books to read right now'.

Personal life and death
Pearlman lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, with her husband. They had two children.

Pearlman died in Brookline on January 1, 2023, at the age of 86.

Awards and honors
Source:


 * 2014 Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize, shortlist, Binocular Vision
 * 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award, Binocular Vision
 * 2011 Edward Lewis Wallant Award, Binocular Vision
 * 2011 PEN/Malamud Award
 * 2011 National Book Award for Fiction, finalist, Binocular Vision
 * 2008 Pushcart Prize XXXIII, "Door Psalm"
 * 2006 Best American Short Stories 2006, "Self-Reliance"
 * 2003 The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, "The Story"
 * 2001 Pushcart Prize XXV, "Mates"
 * 2000 Best American Short Stories 2000, "Allog"
 * 1999 The Antioch Review Distinguished Fiction Award
 * 1998 Best American Short Stories 1998, "Chance"
 * 1991 Syndicated Fiction Award (from NEA)
 * 1987 Syndicated Fiction Award
 * 1984 The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, "Conveniences"
 * 1978 The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, "Hanging Fire"

Short story collections

 * Winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize
 * Winner of Spokane Prize for Literature
 * Winner of Mary McCarthy Prize