Book Home Famous Authors Ursula Hegi

Ursula Hegi

Ursula Hegi (23 May 1946 - ) is a fiction author. She lived in West Germany until she was 18. She moved to the United States and has lived both on the East Coast and in Spokane, Washington. She first wrote stories set in the United States, and then began to write fiction about Germany, including her best selling Oprah Book Club novel Stones from the River (1994).

Hegi was born in 1947 in Duisburg, Germany, and attended university in Munich. In 1972, she traveled to the United States, where she earned a master's degree from State University of New York in 1975. She then lived and worked in New York City as a psychiatric social worker. During this time, Hegi wrote for German and American publications.

Hegi's fiction writing career began when she was able to focus on writing full-time in 1981. Her first novel, Floating in My Mother's Palm, was published in 1984. This novel deals with the experiences of a second-generation German woman and the struggle of maintaining a cultural identity in a foreign land. The novel earned Hegi positive reviews from many publications and led to additional works.

Hegi's greatest success came with the 1995 publication of Stones from the River. The novel tells the story of Trudi Montag, a dwarf in a German village in the 1930s. The novel focuses on Trudi's relationships, struggles, and journey to self-acceptance as she navigates the events of the Nazi regime. Stones from the River was awarded the 1995 Book of the Month Club's Fiction Prize, was a New York Times bestseller, and was an Oprah's Book Club pick for 1997.

Hegi has taught courses at numerous American colleges and universities. She has received numerous awards, including the Friends of American Writers Literary Award, as well as honorary degrees. She has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and events, including the 2020 Virtual Writing Conference.

Hegi continues to write novels and short stories today. Her stories often deal with the struggles of immigrants, exploring issues of cultural identity, family, loss, and second-generation assimilation. She has written extensively on the subject of intergenerational differences, delving into the connections between story and memory and chronicling the experience of loss during war. Hegi's works combine literary fiction with emotional depth and have been praised by writers, critics, and readers alike.

Her many awards include an NEA Fellowship and five PEN Syndicated Fiction Awards. She won a book award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) in 1991 for Floating in My Mother's Palm . She has also written many reviews for The New York Times , the Los Angeles Times , and The Washington Post . For many years, she taught creative writing at Eastern Washington University. Her recent books include Stones from the River (1994), Intrusions (1995), Tearing the Silence: On Growing Up German in America (1998), The Vision of Emma Blau (2000), Hotel of the Saints: Stories (2001), Sacred Time (2004), and The Worst Thing I've Done (2007).

Bibliography:

• The Worst Thing I've Done (2007)


• Sacred Time (2004)


• Trudi and Pia (2004)


• Hotel of the Saints (2001)


• The Vision of Emma Blau (2000)


• Tearing the Silence (1997)


• Salt Dancers (1996)


• Stones from the River (1995)


• Floating in My Mother's Palm (1990)


• Unlearned Pleasures and Other Stories (1988)


• Intrusions (1981)