Kate Elizabeth Russell | |
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Born | 1984 (age 39–40) |
Occupation | Author |
Nationality | American |
Education | John Bapst Memorial High School University of Maine at Farmington (BFA) Indiana University (MFA) University of Kansas (PhD) |
Notable works |
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Kate Elizabeth Russell (born 1984) is an American author. Her debut novel, My Dark Vanessa, was published in 2020 and became a national bestseller.
Russell was raised in the town of Clifton, Maine, attending John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine.[1][2] She subsequently studied as an undergraduate at the University of Maine at Farmington, earning a B.F.A. in creative writing in 2006,[3] and went on to earn an M.F.A. from Indiana University[4] and a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Kansas.[5]
Russell's first novel offers a fictional account of a traumatic sexual relationship between its protagonist, Vanessa Wye, and Jacob Strane. Wye is 15 years old and a lonely student at boarding school when Strane, her 42-year-old English teacher, begins grooming her for a sexual relationship which will come to cast an appalling shadow over her life. The novel is a first-person narrative, jumping forward and backward in time amongst 2000, 2007, and 2017, with this last year affording Russell the social context of the Me Too movement.[6]
It is implied that Vanessa is, at least in part, an unreliable narrator owing to her reluctance to see herself as a victim or Strane as a predator.
My Dark Vanessa was a national bestseller.[7] It was selected for translation and publication in 22 countries, and optioned for the screen.[2][3] Reviewed positively in a number of publications,[8][9][6][10][11][12][13] My Dark Vanessa brought Russell into a public conversation regarding the novel's treatment of abusive sexual relationships, as well as an individual's right to privacy regarding past trauma.[14][15][16][17]
Russell was shortlisted for the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize for My Dark Vanessa.[18]
My Dark Vanessa occasioned pre-publication controversy when author Wendy C. Ortiz complained that Russell's novel had received different support from that given to Ortiz's memoir concerning a relationship with her 8th grade English teacher.[19][20] Ortiz had not read Russell's book,[21] but discussed Russell's alleged appropriation on Twitter with Roxane Gay.[22][23] Gay subsequently published Ortiz's essay "Adventures in Publishing Outside the Gates," which alleged My Dark Vanessa bore "eerie story similarities" to Ortiz's memoir; the article began with an illustration of one artist copying another's work.[24] However, the Associated Press reported, "Reviewers who looked at both books saw no evidence of plagiarism,"[25] a conclusion echoed by Lila Shapiro of New York Magazine.[20] Nevertheless, in response to social media comments, and in the wake of the controversy over American Dirt,[26] Oprah Winfrey, who had originally tapped My Dark Vanessa as a selection for her influential Book Club, rescinded the selection.[25][27]
As a result of the accusations of plagiarism and appropriation, Russell made a public statement disclosing that My Dark Vanessa had been inspired by her own experiences with sexual abuse as a teenager.[25][28]