Staff Profiles<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/06\/Landing_Harnett_93.jpg” _builder_version=”4.9.10″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Natalie Harnett sitting at a table featuring her book \u201cThe Hollow Ground\u201d.” title_text=”Natalie Harnett” sticky_enabled=”0″ align=”center” border_width_all=”1px”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.10″ text_font=”Open Sans||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Since the release of The Hollow Ground <\/em>(St. Martin\u2019s Press), a coming-of-age story and murder mystery set in Pennsylvania\u2019s ravaged coal country, first-time novelist Natalie Harnett \u201993 has become a hot literary property. In May, her book won the prestigious John Gardner Fiction Book Award for 2015, putting its author in the company of such previous recipients as Jonathan Franzen and Meg Wolitzer. Four months later, the Appalachian Writers Association named Hollow Ground <\/em>the 2014 Appalachian Book of the Year for fiction. And in November, the title was long-listed for the 2016 International Dublin Literary Awards, alongside works by Martin Amis, Siri Hustvedt, and Haruki Murakami, among others. \u201cI\u2019m totally blown away to be among incredible writers I\u2019ve admired all my life,\u201d says Harnett.<\/p>\n\n
A Queens native who always dreamed of becoming a novelist, she majored in English at QC with a concentration in creative writing; her teachers included Joseph McElroy and Susan Fox. \u201cThey were both very supportive of me,\u201d recalls Harnett. On the recommendation of McElroy\u2014an award-winning novelist himself\u2014she entered Columbia\u2019s MFA program. After graduating, she began teaching, primarily remedial classes and English as a second language. She married a restaurant manager, settled in Long Island, had a daughter, and kept writing despite repeated setbacks. \u201cI dreamed of being published by a major publisher,\u201d says Harnett, who completed three novels that remain unsold. \u201cMy first agent quit. I had to accept the fact that it might not happen. The joy had to be that I loved writing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Recalling childhood visits to her grandfather in northeastern Pennsylvania, where she heard about insuppressible mine fires raging underground, she sketched out a multigenerational saga told from the perspective of an 11-year-old girl. \u201cMy editor bought the book for its coming-of-age aspect,\u201d says Harnett. But the public has been equally captivated by her account of environmental disaster. At readings and book signings, she reports, \u201cPeople thank me and share experiences more stunning than what I wrote about: A couple, a basement, an entire house disappearing in a sinkhole. I\u2019m not sure what to do with these stories; perhaps I\u2019ll use them in nonfiction.\u201d<\/div>\n
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In the meantime, she just submitted her latest manuscript. The plot, inspired by her great-grandmother\u2019s experiences, concerns a wealthy Dutch woman who immigrated to New York, her descendants, and the indentured servant who accompanied her. \u201cIt\u2019s so satisfying to be published,\u201d Harnett observes. \u201cI wanted this so very badly, and that need is gone. But success has not removed my desire to write.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Book everyone should read: <\/strong>Put Me in the Zoo <\/em>by Robert Lopshire. \u201cI discovered this late in childhood; now I read it to my daughter.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Favorite music: <\/strong>Classic country, honky-tonk, blues, and bluegrass. \u201cPennsylvania, my second home, is part of my identity.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Surprising fact:<\/strong> \u201cI like to ride motorcycles. I ride with my husband, on the back of his red Harley.\u201d<\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Name: Natalie Harnett Major: EnglishGraduation Year: 1993 “It\u2019s so satisfying to be published. . . . But success has not removed my desire to write.”- Natalie Harnett Student Profiles Alumni Profiles Faculty Profiles Staff ProfilesSince the release of The Hollow Ground (St. Martin\u2019s Press), a coming-of-age story and murder mystery set in Pennsylvania\u2019s ravaged coal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"page_category":[],"wf_page_folders":[164,137],"class_list":["post-963","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=963"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1801,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/963\/revisions\/1801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_category?post=963"},{"taxonomy":"wf_page_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_page_folders?post=963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}