English Lesson: A Memoir by Elizabeth Strout

Philip telephoned the night I first arrived. He sounded mature and serious, with his British accent. We agreed I would travel to Oxford the next weekend. He lived at his college, but he had friends whose “flat” I could stay in.

When I hung up, Margaret said, “I’d feel better, Lizzie, if you stayed in a hotel.”
— From “English Lesson: A Memoir”
“English Lesson: A Memoir by Elizabeth Strout”
Washington Post Magazine
July 12, 2009

Pulitzer Prize for "Olive Kitteridge"

Elizabeth has won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel, Olive Kitteridge.

The citation reads: "For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life,"

Awarded to “Olive Kitteridge,” by Elizabeth Strout (Random House), a collection of 13 short stories set in small-town Maine that packs a cumulative emotional wallop, bound together by polished prose and by Olive, the title character, blunt, flawed and fascinating.

Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University, presents the 2009 Fiction prize to Elizabeth Strout.

Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University, presents the 2009 Fiction prize to Elizabeth Strout.