Miranda Cowley Heller

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miranda Cowley Heller
Born1961 or 1962
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHarvard University
Notable work"The Paper Palace" (2021)
SpouseBruno Heller

Miranda Phillips Cowley Heller (born in 1961 or 1962)[1] is a writer, novelist, and TV developer. She is known for her debut novel, The Paper Palace, which was published in 2021 to acclaim.

Personal life[edit]

Cowley Heller grew up in New York in a literary and artistic family.[1] Her grandfather, Malcolm Cowley, was a renowned poet and critic, her aunt Hayden Herrera is an art historian and biographer, and her sister-in-law Zoë Heller is also a writer.[1][2][3] She is a graduate of Harvard University.[4] Cowley Heller was accepted into a PhD program in art history at UCLA but turned it down to move with her husband, Bruno Heller, a British TV screenwriter, for his job.[4] She currently splits time living in London, Los Angeles, and Cape Cod.[5][4]

Career[edit]

Cowley Heller has had a prolific career across books, magazines, and TV.[1] She began her career at Cosmopolitan magazine where she worked as a fiction and books editor.[1][4][3] She spent a decade as head of drama series at HBO in the early 2000s.[6] While at HBO, she worked on hit shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Big Love, and Deadwood.[4][7] As a writer, she has worked both as a ghostwriter and a screenwriting editor.[6] In 2021, she published her own debut novel, The Paper Palace.[1]

TV[edit]

In 1997, Cowley Heller moved to LA to begin her job at HBO.[3] She spent nearly a decade working there as senior vice president and head of drama series.[1][6] She began at HBO before a drama series department existed, and she led with a "writer-led" approach to TV development.[4]

The Paper Palace[edit]

In 2021, Cowley published her debut novel, The Paper Palace.[8][4][7] According to the review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received positive reviews from critics.[9] It was a #1 New York Times' Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick, and longlisted for the 2022 Women's Prize for Fiction.[10][11][12][3] Thirty international editions of the book have also been published.[3]

The book rights were purchased by HBO, which has plans to develop it into a mini-series with Cowley Heller developing the screenplay.[4]

Published works[edit]

  • (2021) The Paper Palace. New York: Riverhead Books. ISBN 978-0-593-32982-5

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Anderson, Hephzibah (2021-07-10). "Miranda Cowley Heller: 'Writing sex scenes has never scared me'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  2. ^ Egan, Elisabeth (2021-07-29). "Everything Old Is New Again and Other Best-Selling Wisdom". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e "My Life In Books: Miranda Cowley Heller | SheerLuxe". sheerluxe.com. 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Brennan, Marjorie (2021-07-10). "From HBO TV to her debut novel: Miranda Cowley Heller on finding her voice". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  5. ^ Team, i (2022-04-21). "Miranda Cowley Heller: 'I write in a big old barn looking over the treetops on Cape Cod'". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  6. ^ a b c Angelini, Francesca. "Miranda Cowley Heller, the TV drama boss behind The Wire and The Sopranos, on her debut novel". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  7. ^ a b "Viking triumphs in nine-way auction for début literary love story". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  8. ^ Kelly, Mary Louise (July 21, 2021). "Love Is A Losing Game And Choice Is A Curse In 'The Paper Palace'". NPR. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "Book Marks reviews of The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller". Book Marks. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Green, Penelope (2022-08-13). "Bohemia Beach Is Having Another Day in the Sun". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  11. ^ O'Neill, Lauren (2022-07-20). "How Reese Witherspoon's Book Club changed Hollywood for women". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  12. ^ Community (2022-03-09). "The 2022 Women's Prize Long List". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2023-02-06.