Rufi Thorpe (born 1985)[1] is an American novelist and nonfiction writer. Her books have been long listed or finalists for several literary awards including the International Dylan Thomas Prize, PEN/Faulkner Award, and Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. Her novel Margo's Got Money Troubles was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.
| Rufi Thorpe | |
|---|---|
Thorpe in 2025 | |
| Born | 1985 (age 40–41) Dallas, Texas, US |
| Area | Writer |
Notable works | Margo's Got Money Troubles |
| www | |
Life and education
editThorpe was born in Dallas, but grew up in Southern California starting at 6 years-old where she was raised by a single mother.[2] She attended Phillips Exeter Academy for high school, but left high school early to attend Eugene Lang College in New York where she studied philosophy and literature, graduating in 2006.[3][4] She was a Henry Hoyns Fellow at the University of Virginia where she received a Master of Fine Arts in 2009.[5][6] She lives in California with her husband and two sons.[7]
Writing career and bibliography
editThorpe is author of four critically acclaimed novels, and a contributor to several magazines, newspapers and online publications such as the New York Times, Vela, Poets & Writers and Literary Hub.[8][9][10][11]
Her first novel, The Girls from Corona del Mar, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2014, was long listed for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize.[3]
Thorpe's next novel, Dear Fang, with Love, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2016, was given a starred review by Publishers Weekly, and was said by Kirkus Reviews to be, "Melancholic and whimsical at once, Thorpe's novel is bumpy, quirky, and wholly original."[12][13]
Knockout Queen, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2020, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award.[14]
Thorpe's book Margo's Got Money Troubles, William Morrow (New York, NY), June 11, 2024, has been adapted into a television series on Apple TV.[15] Accolades include:
- Finalist for the 2024 Kirkus Prize[16]
- Finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards[17]
- Finalist for the 2025 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award[18]
- Winner of the Libby Award for Best Book Club Book[19]
- Book of the Month Club Pick[20]
- LibraryReads Pick[21]
- Time Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2024[22]
References
edit- ↑ "A Stupid Man: Rufi Thorpe on the Influence of Czesław Miłosz and Writing While Female". Los Angeles Review of Books. August 11, 2016.
- ↑ Haber, Leigh. "Rufi Thorpe Goes to the Mat". PublishersWeekly.com.
- 1 2 Garrity, Patrick (August 12, 2024). "Art & Agency".
- ↑ "Interview with Knopf Author Rufi Thorpe '06". May 3, 2017.
- ↑ https://southerncalwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SCWA-Newsletter-6-June-2020.pdf
- ↑ https://airtable.com/app0jlNBRIkF79eiy/shrMCdCauSmEDUdNq
- ↑ Zimmerman, Greg (April 8, 2025). "'Like she just handed you a magic wand': Get to Know StoryBoard Instructor Rufi Thorpe".
- ↑ Thorpe, Rufi (December 20, 2014). "Standing Out, Uncomfortably, in a First Job". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
- ↑ "Why I Didn't See the David (and other methodologies of heartbreak) | Vela".
- ↑ "Perversity of Spirit: What It Takes to Be a Writer". Poets & Writers. August 19, 2014.
- ↑ Thorpe, Rufi (May 24, 2016). "Actually, All Writers Steal".
- ↑ "Dear Fang, with Love by Rufi Thorpe". Publishers Weekly.
- ↑ "Dear Fang, With Love". Kirkus Reviews.
- ↑ "Announcing the Winner of the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction | the PEN/Faulkner Foundation".
- ↑ "Watch Margo's Got Money Troubles - Apple TV". Apple TV.
- ↑ "Kirkus Prize 2024: The Fiction Finalists". Kirkus Reviews.
- ↑ Margo's got money troubles. William Morrow. 2025.
- ↑ Hasic, Albinko (September 23, 2025). "Finalists Announced for the 2025 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award - Mark Twain House". marktwainhouse.org.
- ↑ "OverDrive Announces Winners of The Libbys, The Second Annual Libby Book Awards". March 5, 2025.
- ↑ "Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe". www.bookofthemonth.com.
- ↑ "Jacket" (PDF).
- ↑ "Margo's Got Money Troubles: 100 Must-Read Books of 2024".