Discipline: Literature – fiction

Ruth Krauss

Discipline: Literature – fiction
Region: Bridgeport, CT
MacDowell Fellowships: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982

Ruth Krauss (7/25/1901 – 7/10/1993) was an American writer of children’s books and theatrical poems for adult readers. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland and suffered from many health problems in her early years. However, she began writing and illustrating her own stories from a young age. Krauss studied and honed her creative abilities at the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Camp Walden in Maine, the Peabody Institute of Music’s preparatory program, and the Parsons School of Design in New York. Over the course of her career, she wrote and co-illustrated many children’s books, wrote and illustrated books of her own, and wrote three collections of poetry and plays in verse for adults. Two of her books were runners-up for the Caldecott Medal and she was honored on the cover of The New Yorker in 1993 two months after her death.

Studios

Star

Ruth Krauss worked in the Star studio.

Funded by Alpha Chi Omega, a national fraternity founded in 1885, Star Studio — built in 1911–1912 — was the first studio given to the residency by an outside organization. To this day, Alpha Chi sorority pledges learn the story of Star Studio and its role in supporting American arts and letters. Beginning as a nicely proportioned…

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