Smiley, Jane

Jane Smiley is an American novelist born on September 26, 1949, in Los Angeles, California, known for her lyrical works exploring family dynamics in pastoral and Midwestern settings.[1][2] She debuted with Barn Blind in 1980 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for A Thousand Acres, a modern retelling of King Lear set in Iowa.[2][3] A prolific author, she has written novels across genres including historical fiction, mystery, young adult, and nonfiction, with recent works like Lucky (2024).[2][8]