This week’s theme for Top Ten Tuesday is Authors Who Live In My State/Country (submitted by Jennifer @ Funk-N-Fiction.) Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I was born in the United States and lived in Pennsylvania for the entire first 35 years of my life. However, I moved to Upstate New York at the very end of 2023, so I’m going to cheat and use both states in my list for the sake of my sanity. And to make it even easier for my weary self, I’m going to use authors who are both alive and dead or even just lived in the state for a significant period of time.
AUTHORS who live in my states
1. Tamora Pierce – Song of the Lioness series – Pennsylvania
Tamora Pierce made her name writing fantasy novels for younger audiences. I count her most famous work, the Song of the Lioness series, as one of my first fantasy series. She was born in South Connellsivlle, Pennsylvania and attended The University of Pennsylvania.
2. Herman Melville – Moby Dick – New York
Herman Melville author of classic Moby Dick : The White Whale, was born and New York City and later moved to Albany.
3. Gregory Maguire – Wicked – New York
Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked (yes, that Wicked that went on to become a Broadway play in NYC), was born and raised in Albany, NY and also attended the State University of New York at Albany.
4. Louisa May Alcott – Little Women – Pennsylvania
Most people associate Louisa May Alcott with New England, but she was actually born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
5. C.M. Waggoner – Unnatural Magic – New York
C.M. Waggoner grew up in rural Upstate New York, studied at SUNY Purchase, and moved to Albany, NY with her husband.
6. Madeline Miller – The Song of Achilles – New York and Pennsylvania
Madeline Miller was born in Boston, but grew up in both New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
7. Edgar Allan Poe – The Raven – Pennsylvania and New york
Edgar Allan Poe lived in Philadelphia for six years and published some of his most famous works while living there, such as “The Telltale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The city has a historical site dedicated to the author in one of his surviving homes. Poe also spent a period of his life living in different parts of New York including New York City, the Bronx, and Greenwich Village.
8. Dean Koontz – The Watchers – Pennsylvania
Dean Koontz was born in Everett, Pennsylvania and grew up in Bedford, Pennsylvania. He attended college at Shippensburg State University and taught high school English in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, which is about 40 minutes from where I grew up.
9. Bethany Jacobs – These Burning Stars – New York
Bethany Jacobs is a former college professor, whose debut novel These Burning Stars absolutely blew me out of the water, lives in Buffalo, New York with her partner.
10. F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby – New York
Though he is mainly associated with Minnesota, his main character in his most famous work, The Great Gatsby, was based on him. Like his character, Nick Caraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald moved from Minnesota to New York to find himself.
I didn’t know that a lot of these authors had connections to my home state of Pennsylvania and new state of New York, so that was really fun to find out this information. Did any of these authors who lived in my states surprise you?
Very nice list!
Thank you so much! 💙🥰
Those are totally valid choices. It’s actually why I picked books from authors who live all over in Canada. It was easier than deciding which of the places I have lived should get the attention. Haha.
That was smart thinking! 😂 I probably should’ve widened the net! I’d love to check yours out, if you have a link handy?