Whitney Otto

Whitney Otto (born March 5, 1955) is an American novelist best known for her debut novel How to Make an American Quilt.

Life and career Otto was born and raised in California to a couple who later divorced; her father was an engineer, while her mother worked in advertising. She attended university at the University of the Pacific, San Diego State University, and the University of California, Irvine before graduating. where they moved from San Francisco. Otto's writing has also been anthologized; some of her pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Oregonian, and The San Francisco Chronicle, as well as in magazines.

As a writer, Otto has been described as a "democrat", choosing to tell her stories using multiple narrative voices. In 1990 she received an Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of California, Irvine; she has also been awarded a number of other prizes and grants during her career. Otto has also been active as an artist, crafting shadow boxes that have been exhibited at a gallery in Portland.

Works How to Make an American Quilt (1991) Now You See Her (1994) The Passion Dream Book (1998) A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity (2002) Eight Girls Taking Pictures (2012) Art For the Ladlylike: An Autobiography Through Other Lives (2021)