Leigh Newman

Leigh Newman (born May 15, 1971) is an American writer. Her story collection about Alaskan women Nobody Gets Out Alive was long-listed for the National Book Award and the Story Prize. Her memoir, Still Points North, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard First Book Prize.

Personal life Newman grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and Baltimore, Maryland, traveling between the homes of her two parents. Her childhood and remote wilderness experiences were the basis of her memoir Still Points North (Dial Press, 2013). She received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1993 and her MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2006.

Career

After working primarily in nonfiction, with articles and essays in The New York Times, Vogue, Oprah.com, O, The Oprah Magazine and Bookforum, she turned to fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Harper’s, The Paris Review, One Story, Tin House, and McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern among other magazines. In 2020, her work was recognized in the Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prize, The American Society of Magazine Editor's fiction prize for work in the Paris Review, as well awarded the Terry Southern Prize for “humor, wit, and sprezzatura" at the Paris Review.

Newman has received fiction fellowships from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Corporation of Yaddo. In 2014, she was a Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Fellow.