Sheila M. Kohler

Lecturer in Creative Writing in the Lewis Center for the Arts

Ms. Kohler is the author of six novels: Bluebird or the Invention of Happiness (Other Press, 2007); Crossways (Ontario Review Press, 2004); Children of Pithiviers (Zoland, 2001); Cracks (Zoland, 1999); The House on R Street (Knopf, 1994); and The Perfect Place (Knopf, 1989). She has also written three books of short stories, Stories from Another World (Ontario Review Press, 2003); One Girl (Helicon Nine, 1999); and Miracles in America (Knopf, 1990). The Other Press has published paperback editions of Crossways, Children of Pithiviers, Cracks and The Perfect Place. Ms. Kohler’s work received the O. Henry Prize in 1988 and has received the Open Voice prize, the Smart Family Foundation Prize, and the Willa Cather Prize and will be included in the O’Henry Prize Stories for 2008. Cracks was chosen by the Library Journal and Newsday as one of the best books of 1999 and was optioned by Killer Films and Working Track 2.  It has been filmed in Ireland with Ridley Scott and his daughter Jordan as directors as well as Christine Vachan and others; and Eva Green playing Miss G and Imogen Poots as Fiamma. In addition to her novels, Ms. Kohler has published "The Transitional Object" in the 2008 O'Henry Prize Stories and has a new essay forthcoming in Salmagundi called "Grief."  Ms. Kohler was awarded The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Fellowship of the New York Public Library. Her work has been translated and published in France, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Holland, England, and India. She has taught at Sarah Lawrence, City College, Brooklyn College, The New School, Bennington, the West Side YMCA, and Columbia University. She lives in New York City.