Carol Shields (b. June 2, 1935, d. July 16, 2003) wrote primarily about what she called “the arc of the human life.” She is best known for her award-winning novel about one such life,

The Stone Diaries

, which won the Governor General's Award in Canada and the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Prize in the United States, and was short-listed for the Commonwealth's Man Booker Prize. But Shields was first a writer of poetry and short stories; has written nine other novels, set in both her adopted country, Canada, and her country of birth, the United States; and is the author of plays, essays, a critical study, and a biography.

Carol Warner was born and raised in the middle-class suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, attended Hanover College in Indiana, then on a year-long exchange

2612 words

Citation: Roy, Wendy. "Carol Shields". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 July 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4058, accessed 26 November 2024.]

4058 Carol Shields 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.