Joan Didion Biography

Joan Didion is the highly respected author of five novels, several non-fiction books (including Slouching Towards Bethlehem and Political Fictions), and five screenplays co-authored with her husband John Gregory Dunne (including A Star is Born and Up Close & Personal). Her chronicle of the year after her husband died, The Year of Magical Thinking won the 2005 National Book Award (USA). She was born in California and lives in New York City.

In 2007, Didion received the National Book Foundation's annual Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. The same year, Didion also won the Evelyn F. Burkey Award from the Writers Guild of America. In 2009, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Harvard University.

On July 3, 2013 the White House announced Didion is one of the recipients of the National Medals of Arts and Humanities to be presented by President Barack Obama.

Her works include Run, River (1963), Play It as It Lays (1970), A Book of Common Prayer (1977), Salvador (1983), Miami (1987), and Where I Was From (2003).

About This Biography
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