A Thousand Acres

Jane Smiley was born in Los Angeles, California, and lived in several places before earning her bachelor's degree from Vassar College in 1971. She spent a year traveling through Europe and returned to the U.S. to graduate in Iowa, where she would later teach. She is the author of several novels, including A Thousand Acres, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, essays, and nonfiction books. In 2001, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 2006 received the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. Currently, Jane Smiley lives in Northern California.