Megan Abbott | |
---|---|
Born | 1971 Detroit, United States |
Occupation | Author |
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Citizenship | United States |
Education | PhD in English and American Literature |
Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Genre | crime fiction |
Notable awards |
Edgar Award 2008 Queenpin Barry Award – Best Paperback Novel 2008 Queenpin |
Megan Abbott (born 1971) is an American author of crime fiction and a non-fiction analysis of hardboiled crime fiction. Her novels and short stories have drawn from and re-worked classic subgenres of crime writing, with a female twist.
Abbott grew up in suburban Detroit and graduated from the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University, and has taught at NYU, the State University of New York and the New School University. In 2013-2014, she served as the John Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi.
Abbott was influenced by film noir, classic noir fiction, and Jeffrey Eugenides's novel The Virgin Suicides. Two of her novels reference notorious crimes. The Song Is You (2007) is based around the disappearance of Jean Spangler in 1949, and Bury Me Deep (2009) on the 1931 case of Winnie Ruth Judd, dubbed "the Trunk Murderess".
Abbott has won the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for outstanding fiction. Time named her one of the "23 Authors That We Admire" in 2011.Publishers Weekly gave her 2011 novel The End of Everything a starred review.
Abbott has written for major journals and newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. She also writes a blog with novelist Sara Gran.