Paulette Kay Jiles (aka Paulette K. Jiles, Paulette Jiles-Johnson) (born April 4, 1943) is an American poet, memoirist, and novelist.

Paulette Jiles
Jiles at the 2017 Texas Book Festival
Jiles at the 2017 Texas Book Festival
BornPaulette Kay Jiles
(1943-04-04) April 4, 1943 (age 81)
Salem, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation
  • Poet
  • memoirist
  • novelist
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Missouri–Kansas City
Notable worksNews of the World (2016)
Notable awardsGovernor General's Award (1984)
Pat Lowther Award (1985)
Gerald Lampert Award (1985)
SpouseJim Johnson (divorced)

Personal life

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Paulette Kay Jiles was born in 1943 in Salem, Missouri. She attended college at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, graduating in 1968[1] with a major in Romance Languages.[2] Jiles moved to Toronto, Canada in 1969, where she worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation[2] and, subsequently, helped set up native language, FM radio stations with indigenous peoples in the far north of Ontario and Quebec for the next 10 years.[3] In the process, she learned the Ojibwe language spoken by the Anishinaabeg peoples in Ontario and elsewhere.[2]

After marrying Jim Johnson, she moved with him to San Antonio in 1991.[4] After several years of travel, including living in Mexico, the couple resettled in San Antonio in 1995, buying a house in the historical district.[2] Since her divorce in 2003, Jiles has lived on a 36-acre ranch near Utopia, Texas, about 80 miles west of San Antonio.[4]

Writing career

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Her 2016 novel News of the World was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.[5]

Selected bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ "October 2016 Archives". UMKC Alumni. UMKC Alumni Association. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Jiles, Paulette. "Author's Page". amazon.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  3. ^ Salaman, Jeff (15 September 2016). "True Western". texasmonthly.com. Texas Monthly. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  4. ^ a b Cook-Monroe, Nancy (4 October 2016). "Former San Antonian Paulette Jiles Nominated for National Book Award". The Rivard Report. (therivardreport.com). Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  5. ^ The New Yorker (6 October 2016). "The 2016 National Book Awards Finalists". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
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Paulette Jiles's blog.