Michael Cunningham is an American novelist and screenwriter known for his profound explorations of human relationships. He is best known for The Hours (1998), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 1999 PEN/Faulkner Award. His latest novel, Day (2023), is a poignant examination of family dynamics and resilience in times of change.
Michael Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was raised in La Cañada Flintridge, California. Cunningham studied English literature at Stanford University, graduating with a degree, before receiving a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, supported by a Michener Fellowship. While at Iowa, his short stories appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and The Paris Review. His story White Angel was later incorporated into his novel A Home at the End of the World (1990).
Cunningham's career has been marked by accolades, including a Guggenheim Fellowship (1993) and a Whiting Award (1995). His ability to combine the personal and the universal has established him as a significant voice in American literature, particularly with The Hours. The novel, made into an Oscar-winning film in 2002, is a reimagining of the life of Virginia Woolf and her novel Mrs Dalloway.
Day (2023), Cunningham's latest novel, unfolds over three April fifths from 2019 to 2021, chronicling the evolving dynamics of a Brooklyn family. Dan and Isabel, a married couple, grapple with their fraying relationship while both harbour feelings for Isabel's brother, Robbie, who lives in their attic loft.
Their children, Nathan and Violet, navigate their own experiences of growing up amidst parental discord. When the COVID-19 pandemic strikes, Robbie finds himself stranded in Iceland, facing isolation and his secret online persona.
The novel captures the family's struggles and transformations as they emerge from lockdown, re-evaluating their connections and the meaning of togetherness. Reflecting on the complexities of family life, Cunningham writes: "How to live together and apart, and maybe even escape the marriage plot altogether.
Cunningham, who lives in Brooklyn, is also a Yale University professor teaching creative writing. In addition to his novels, he has edited and introduced works by Walt Whitman and Virginia Woolf.
Photo credit: David Shankbon.
