About Jenny McPhee
Born 1962. Jenny McPhee is an American translator, academic administrator, university teacher and writer.
Jenny McPhee (born c. 1962) is an American novelist and translator. A 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, she has worked as a translator of Italian literature to English and wrote the novels The Center of Things, No Ordinary Matter (2004), and A Man of No Moon (2007).
Biography Jenny McPhee was born circa 1962 to writer John McPhee and photographer Pryde Brown and raised in suburban New Jersey. She attended Princeton High School, before obtaining her BA in Williams College. In 1984, she was granted a Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York Fellowship to continue her graduate studies in Scotland.
Originally a translator, she began in the 1990s with Italian-English translations such as Pope John Paul II's Crossing the Threshold of Hope (which she did alongside her sister Martha McPhee), as well as works from authors such as Natalia Ginzburg, Primo Levi, Giacomo Leopardi, Curzio Malaparte, Paolo Maurensig, Anna Maria Ortese, and . In 2021, she won the 2020 John Florio Prize runner-up prize for her translation of Curzio Malaparte's novel The Kremlin Ball.
After publishing the 2000 book Girls: Ordinary Girls and Their Extraordinary Pursuits with her sisters Martha and Laura McPhee, she started moving into novels, with her debut being The Center of Things (2001), about a tabloid reporter and her relationship with the husband of a celebrity whose obituary she is writing.
She has two sons with her spouse,
Works The Center of Things (2001) No Ordinary Matter (2004) A Man of No Moon (2007)
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Important facts
People in Jenny McPhee's life
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Jenny McPhee?
American translator
When was Jenny McPhee born?
Jenny McPhee was born in 1962.
What is Jenny McPhee's occupation?
Jenny McPhee is a translator, academic administrator, university teacher and writer.
What nationality is Jenny McPhee?
Jenny McPhee is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Jenny McPhee. https://biography.guide/jenny-mcphee/
MLA: "Jenny McPhee." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/jenny-mcphee/.
Chicago: "Jenny McPhee." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/jenny-mcphee/.
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