Anshaw, Carol 1946-

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ANSHAW, Carol 1946-

PERSONAL: Born March 22, 1946, in Grosse Pointe, MI; daughter of Henry G. and Virginia (Anshaw) Stanley; married Charles J. White, III, 1969 (divorced, 1985); companion of Jessie Ewing. Education: Michigan State University, B.A., 1968; Vermont College of Norwich University, M.F.A., 1992. Politics: Democrat. Hobbies and other interests: Painting, weight training, running.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Joy Harris, 156 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Vermont College of Norwich University, Montpelier, faculty member, 1994—. School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, adjunct professor, 1996—. Bloom magazine, member of advisory board.

MEMBER: National Book Critics Circle.

AWARDS, HONORS: Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, National Book Critics Circle, 1989-90; Carl Sandburg Award and award from Society of Midland Authors, both 1992, both for Aquamarine; Aquamarine listed as one of one hundred best gay and lesbian novels by Publishing Triangle, 1999; Ferro-Grumly Award for Lesbian Fiction, 2003.

WRITINGS:

Aquamarine (novel), Houghton (Boston, MA), 1992.

Seven Moves (novel), Houghton (Boston, MA), 1996.

Lucky in the Corner (novel), Houghton (Boston, MA), 2002.

Work represented in anthologies, including Best American Short Stories, 1994, 1998.

ADAPTATIONS: Seven Moves was adapted by Patricia Kane and produced by the About Face Theater Company in Chicago, IL.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A novel.

SIDELIGHTS: Carol Anshaw's first novel, Aquamarine, appeared in 1992. The story follows Jessie Austin, an Olympic swimmer who loses the gold medal to her lover, Aquamarine, then leaps twenty years ahead and into three parallel lives Jessie is leading, depending on different decisions she made at seventeen years old. Anshaw's second novel, SevenMoves, is the story of a psychotherapist whose lover disappears. According to Jane Traxell in the Lambda Book Report the author's 2002 effort Lucky in the Corner "is a quiet family novel, much as if Sue Miller or Alice Hoffman were to suddenly come out with a lesbian novel."

The "Lucky" of the title is the college-aged protagonist Fern's very old dog. Fern's mother, Nora, came out as a lesbian and divorced her husband when Fern was approximately ten years old. Though Fern resented the break-up of her family and her mother's initially wandering ways, she likes the partner her mother has chosen. She has never gotten along that well with her mother, however, and when Nora cheats on her longtime lover, Fern is aggravated with her. Adding to Fern's problems are a friend with an out-of-wedlock baby, a new slacker boyfriend who may be the baby's father, and a cross-dressing but heterosexual uncle with whom she gets along quite well. Unfortunately, it takes the heartbreaking demise of Lucky to bring Fern and Nora to a sense of understanding for each other. Traxell praised the characterization of the novel, noting that "Anshaw tenderly and expertly fleshes out her charges." The critic concluded that while she "misses the boldness and ingenuity of Anshaw's earlier works," she also "appreciates the more settled Anshaw as well."