Michael Cunningham

(b. 1952) – a best-selling American writer, the author of The Hours – a novel inspired by the life and works of Virginia Woolf that was awarded with the Pulitzer Prize and is well-known also for its great film adaptation including a constellation of stars (Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris). Cunningham was born in Cincinnati; he studied literature at Stanford University and the University of Iowa. He began his writing career from the publication of short stories in The Atlantic Monthly and Paris Review. The short story White Angel published in The New Yorker was recognised as one of the best American stories and included in the Best American Short Stories anthology. His novels refer to many LGBT aspects (the long list of prizes received from Cunningham includes also the prestigious Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Book Award). In The Snow Queen, Cunningham rewrote Andersen's classic fairytale into an LGBT version. Two other novels by Cunningham have also been adapted to film: A Home at the End of the World (a story of double hypersensitive persons) as well as Evening. Cunningham lectures on creative writing, among others, at the University of Yale.

fot. (c) Phibbs