Rosner, Elizabeth 1959–

(Elizabeth J. Rosner)

PERSONAL: Born December 31, 1959, in Schenectady, NY; daughter of Carl H. (a scientist and businessman) and Frieda Z. (a homemaker and volunteer) Rosner. Education: Stanford University, B.A., 1981; University of California at Irvine, M.F.A., 1984; University of Queensland, Australia, M.A., 1990. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES: Home—Berkeley, CA. Agent—Joelle Delbourgo, Joelle Delbourgo Associates, 450 7th Ave., Ste. 3004, New York, NY 10123. E-mail—elizabeth@elizabethrosner.com.

CAREER: Writer. Spent eighteen years as college writing instructor, including Contra Costa College, San Pablo, CA, professor of English, 1992–2000.

AWARDS, HONORS: New/Emerging Poet award, Anna Davidson Rosenberg Contest for Poems on the Jewish Experience, 1995; Select Poets Series award, Small Poetry Press, 1999, for Gravity; New Writer's Award in Fiction, Great Lakes Colleges Association, and Harold U. Ribalow Prize, both 2002, both for The Speed of Light; Prix France Bleu Gironde, 2004, The Speed of Light.

WRITINGS:

Gravity (poetry), Small Poetry Press (Concord, CA), 1998.

The Speed of Light (novel), Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Blue Nude: A Novel, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Also contributor of numerous poems and short stories to anthologies and literary magazines, including Poetry, Poetry East, Another Chicago Magazine, Cream City Review, and Southern Poetry Review.

SIDELIGHTS: Elizabeth Rosner, according to Charles Hix in a Publishers Weekly interview, named her first computer Virginia, in honor of Virginia Woolf. "I particularly admire her ability to explore the inner lives of her characters," she told Hix. Already a successful poet, Rosner produced her debut novel, The Speed of Light, in 2001. It is a work in which the author asks, "Is it better to hold secrets inside and remain the sole witness to grief and pain," as Mindy Spar put it in a Post and Courier article, "or will release come with the sharing of inner darkness?" The story follows a brother and sister, Julian and Paula, who are different in most ways; "Julian is overwhelmed by the world while Paula travels in it," Spar noted. But they share a vital legacy: their father is a Holocaust survivor. A third central character is Paula's housekeeper, Sola, herself the sole survivor of a terrorist massacre in an unnamed Central American country.

Rosner admitted to Hix that the novel is an outgrowth of her poetry: "Although I'm reluctant to categorize myself, I would say that being a child of Holocaust survivors has shaped me not only as an artist but as a human being." The Speed of Light gained favorable critical reaction. "Trapped by memories, bound by conscience, three characters … intricately merge in Rosner's haunting tale of timeless secrets and timely salvation," Carol Haggas wrote in Booklist. In the Post and Courier, Spar noted that the novel is not the kind of book "that grabs you right away. Instead it is a thought-provoking piece of work, a work with layers of feeling."

For her next novel, Blue Nude: A Novel, Rosner was inspired by her participation in the Acts of Reconciliation project, which brought together Germans and Jews to discuss the legacy of World War II. In the novel, a painter named Danzig habitually seduces his models while he struggles with his memories of a brutal youth at the hands of his ex-Nazi father. When he meets the daughter of a holocaust survivor named Merav while she is modeling in one of the classes he teaches, Danzig begins a relationship unlike any other that he has had, in that it is not based on sex. Instead, Merav may prove to be his muse and reinvigorate his once promising career. Prudence Peiffer, writing in the Library Journal, commented: "Rosner propels her readers nimbly through the pages and history, capturing some vivid interactions." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that the author "presents a simple but earnest belief in the power of art to heal and reconcile."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2001, Carol Haggas, review of The Speed of Light, p. 2092.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2006, review of Blue Nude: A Novel, p. 203.

Library Journal, April 1, 2006, Prudence Peiffer, review of Blue Nude, p. 86.

Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), October 28, 2001, Mindy Spar, "Poet Rosner's Debut Novel about Pain of Secrets Shows Her Gift for Storytelling," p. 3.

Publishers Weekly, August 6, 2001, Charles Hix, interview with Rosner and review of The Speed of Light, p. 47; February 20, 2006, review of Blue Nude, p. 132.

Washington Post, September 21, 2001, Carolyn See, review of "Mourning Has Broken," p. C5.

ONLINE

Elizabeth Rosner Home Page, http://www.elizabethrosner.com (October 11, 2006).