Piercy, Marge
March 31, 1936 -
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Place of Principle Residence: Wellfleet, MA
Biography:
Marge Piercy was born to Bernice and Robert Piercy in Detroit, MI. Growing up during the Great Depression, Piercy and her family struggled to get by. Her grandmother and mother raised her to be a Jew, and Piercy remains one today. At age seventeen, she won a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, earning her A.B. in 1957. Piercy describes this time as enjoyable academically, but difficult with being a feminist in the Freudianism that permeated the campus. Upon graduating, Piercy won a fellowship to attend Northwestern University, where she earned her M.A. in 1958. Piercy has lived numerous places, teaching poetry and writing at many universities. She is actively involved in politics, and was involved in the anti-Vietnam war protest, the Women’s movement, and currently with the resistance to the war in Iraq. Early on in her writing career (around her early to mid-twenties), Piercy did not enjoy much success. Eventually she got her first book published, Breaking Camp, in 1968, and has since published seventeen novels. Much of Piercy’s fiction and writing revolves around politics, women, and the working class. With her current husband, Ira Wood, Piercy has written a play (The Last White Class), co-authored a novel, and established the Leapfrog Press. Piercy currently works as a writer and lecturer and lives in Wellfleet, MA.
Selected Works:
- Breaking Camp (1968)
- Woman on the Edge of Time (1976)
- The Moon is Always Female (1980)
- The Longings of Women (1994)
Awards:
- 1956, 1957 Hopwood Award for Fiction and Poetry
- 1968, 1974 Borestone Mountain Poetry Award (Twice)
- 1986, 1990 Carolyn Kizer Poetry Prize from Calapooya College
- 1989 Two Thousand Notable American Women, 1st edition, American Biographical Institute, Inc.
- 1990 The Golden Rose Poetry Prize, New England Poetry Club
- 1991 May Sarton Award, New England Poetry Club
- 1992 Brit ha-Dorot Award, The Shalom Center
- 1992 Barbara Bradley Award, New England Poetry Club
- 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award, Best Science Fiction Novel published in the United Kingdom
- 1997 ALA ‘97 Notable Book Award for What Are Big Girls Made Of?
- 2000 Paterson Poetry Prize for The Art of Blessing the Day
- James B. Angell Scholar and Lucinda Goodrich Downs Scholar
- Orion Scott Award in Humanities
- Literature Award from the governor’s commission on the Status of Women (Massachusetts)
- Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association medal
- Shaffer/PEN/New England Award for Literary Excellence
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, Bridgewater State College
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, Lesley College
Critical Reception:
“Marge Piercy is not just an author, she’s a cultural touchstone. Few writers in modern memory have sustained her passion, and skill, for creating stories of consequence.”
-The Boston Globe
For He, She, and It:
“This is a beautifully-written book that evokes style and mood wonderfully. Considering the constant changes of scene between 17th-century Prague and the mid-21st, Ms. Piercy does a marvellous job of making each era believable. Using the two time periods is more than just a device; the earlier tale is instrumental in bringing about the conclusion of events in the 21st century.”
- BlogCritics Magazine
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Piercy’s childhood in Detroit, MI shaped her perspective on the world, especially with fostering her politically themed work. Her family lived in a segregated neighborhood during the depression, and her grandfather was murdered for being a union organizer. This involvement with injustice later inspired Piercy to get actively involved in political protests, fighting against the Vietnam and Iraq wars and pushing for more rights for women and the working class.