Howard, Maureen, 1930-2022

Maureen Theresa Howard (née Kearns; June 28, 1930 – March 13, 2022) was an American novelist, memoirist, and editor. Her award-winning novels feature women protagonists and are known for formal innovation and a focus on the Irish-American experience. A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, she was educated at Smith College. In addition to her work as an author, she had a career in academia, teaching writing and literature at several institutions, including Yale University and Columbia University. Howard's books have explored the role of family, class, the way that history informs personal identity, the experience of women in American society, and Catholicism in the lives of Irish Americans. Among other awards, her work garnered the National Book Critics Circle Award and three nominations for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.