Virginia Sorensen

Virginia Sorensen, née Eggertsen, also credited as Virginia Sorenson (February 17, 1912, in Provo, Utah – December 24, 1991), was the author of the 1957 John Newbery Medal winning Miracles on Maple Hill, based in the Erie, Pennsylvania region where she lived at the time.[1] She grew up in Manti and American Fork, Utah.[2] Her first novel, A Little Lower Than the Angels, was written and published in 1942 while she resided in Terre Haute, Indiana, with her first husband Frederick C. Sorensen, a professor at Indiana State Teachers College, now Indiana State University. With its publication, Alfred Knopf declared, "I have seldom introduced a new novelist with the confidence I feel in the author of this remarkable book. It marks the debut, I believe, of a major American writer."[3] She is considered "one of Utah's premiere gifts to literary America."[3] Her first book for children, Curious Missy, grew out of her efforts with a bookmobile in Alabama.[2] She later divorced Sorensen and married Alec Waugh, son of Arthur Waugh and brother of Evelyn Waugh, in 1969. Her books are usually Mormon-themed.[4][5][6] She received two Guggenheim fellowships, one in 1946 to study tribe of Mexican Indians, and one in 1954 to study in Denmark as regards the history of Sanpete Valley's settlers.[6]

Published works

For adults
  • A Little Lower than the Angels – 1942, Knopf
  • On the Star – 1946, Reynal & Hitchcock
  • The Neighbors – 1947, Reynal & Hitchcock
  • The Evening and The Morning – 1949, Harcourt, Brace and Co.
  • The Proper Gods – 1952, Harcourt, Brace & Co.
  • Many Heavens – 1954, Harcourt & Brace
  • Kingdom Come – 1960, Harcourt & Brace
  • Where Nothing is Long Ago – 1963, Harcourt & Brace
  • The Man with the Key – 1974, Harcourt Brace & Co. Jovanovich
For children
  • Curious Missie – 1953, Harcourt Brace
  • The House Next Door: Utah 1896; 1954, Scribners
  • Plain Girl – 1955, Harcourt Brace, won the Child Study Award
  • Miracles on Maple Hill – 1957, Harcourt Brace, won the Child Study Award and the 1957 John Newbery Medal
  • Lotte's Locket – 1964, Harcourt Brace
  • Around the Corner – 1973, Harcourt Brace
  • Friends of the Road Atheneum – 1978

See also

References

  1. ↑ Erie Hall of Fame, accessed April 26, 2012
  2. 1 2 Utah History Encyclopedia
  3. 1 2 In Memoriam, Sunstone Magazine, accessed April 26, 2012
  4. ↑ "Virginia Sorensen, Mormon Novelist". Ldsfilm.com. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
  5. ↑ "Virginia Sorensen Biography | Dictionary of Literary Biography Biography". Bookrags.com. 1912-02-17. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
  6. 1 2 "Virginia Sorensen - Kids Encyclopedia | Online Encyclopedia | Kids Online Dictionary | Britannica". Kids.britannica.com. 1912-02-17. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
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