Diane Ackerman
Diane Ackerman is an acclaimed American poet, essayist, and naturalist, born on October 7, 1948, in Waukegan, Illinois. Notably influenced by her childhood experiences in nature, she developed a passion for poetry and literature early on. Ackerman pursued higher education at institutions like Pennsylvania State University and Cornell University, where she earned multiple degrees, including a PhD. Her literary career began with the publication of her poetry collection, *The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral* (1976), and she later gained recognition for her diverse works that blend themes of science, nature, and personal experience.
Ackerman's notable prose includes *A Natural History of the Senses* (1990), a bestseller that was adapted into a PBS miniseries, and *The Zookeeper's Wife* (2007), which became both a New York Times bestseller and a film. Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards for her contributions to literature, including various poetry prizes and the John Burroughs Nature Award. Ackerman continues to be celebrated for her ability to weave together artistic expression with scientific inquiry, making her a distinctive voice in contemporary literature.
Diane Ackerman
American poet, nonfiction writer, and children's book author.
- Born: October 7, 1948
- Place of Birth: Waukegan, Illinois
Biography
Diane Ackerman was born Diane Fink in Waukegan, Illinois, on October 7, 1948, the only daughter of Sam Fink, a shoe salesman, and Marsha Tischler Fink. She had one brother, Howard. In Waukegan, then a rural area, she learned to love nature. She also discovered her own poetic sensibility. One day, while walking with friends through a plum orchard, she noted how much the dark plums looked liked bats. She later referred to this as her first metaphor.
When Diane was eight, the family moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where her father managed one of the first McDonald’s restaurants. Although Diane liked being with boys and girls of her own age, her association with the counselors at a summer camp introduced her to books such as those that college students were reading. She was already writing poetry; reading now became her other obsession.
After a year at Boston University, Ackerman transferred to Pennsylvania State University. There she met the novelist Paul West, who would become her lifelong companion; they would later make their permanent home in upstate New York. Ackerman received her BA in English in 1970. An offer of a teaching assistantship took her to Cornell University, where she earned an MFA. in 1973, an MA in 1976, and a PhD in 1978. In 1980, Ackerman became assistant professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh; in 1984, she became director of the writers’ program and writer-in-residence at Washington University in St. Louis. She was later writer-in-residence at a number of other universities.
Although Ackerman’s poems had appeared along with those of two other writers in a 1973 chapbook, her first published volume was The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral (1976). It was made up solely of poems about astronomy. Later collections focused on topics ranging from pure science and nature to the adventurous life. Ackerman also wrote prose articles for publications such as the New Yorker, where she was a staff writer from 1988 to 1994, and published book-length memoirs. Twilight of the Tenderfoot told the story of her life as a cowhand on a New Mexico ranch; On Extended Wings, of her adventures as a pilot; and A Slender Thread: Rediscovering Hope at the Heart of Crisis, of her experiences as a volunteer at a suicide-prevention hotline. Ackerman’s most unusual prose work, A Natural History of the Senses (1990), was a diverse collection of fact, folklore, and personal observations. It became a best seller, published in sixteen countries, and was made into a television miniseries, hosted by the author, that was aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in February 1995. That same year Ackerman brought out her first children’s book, Monk Seal Hideaway, followed by Bats: Shadows in the Night (1997), and the children’s poetry collection Animal Sense (2003).
In the 2000s and 2010s Ackerman published several works, including the poetry collections Origami Bridges (2002), and the nonfiction titles An Alchemy of the Mind (2004); The Zookeeper’s Wife (2007), a New York Times Best Seller and winner of the Orion Book Award; Dawn Light (2009); One Hundred Names for Love (2011), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Circle Critics award; and The Human Age (2014), winner of the National Outdoor Book Award and a New York Times Best Seller. A film adaptation of The Zookeeper's Wife, starring Jessica Chastain, was released in 2017 to mostly positive reviews.
Ackerman’s other awards include the Poetry Prize of the Academy of American Poets and the Corson Bishop Prize for Poetry in 1972, the Poetry Prize of the Black Warrior Review in 1981, and the Peter I. B. Lavan Younger Poet Award of the Academy of American Poets in 1985. In 1990, she received the Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers, and in 1998, the John Burroughs Nature Award. The range of her honors points to her unique achievement. Both as a poet and as a prose writer, she has produced a synthesis of science and technology with nature and art.
Author Works
Drama:
Reverse Thunder, 1988
Edited text(s):
The Book of Love, 1998 (with Jeanne Mackin; anthology)
Nonfiction:
Twilight of the Tenderfoot, 1980
On Extended Wings, 1985 (memoir)
A Natural History of the Senses, 1990
The Moon by Whale Light, and Other Adventures Among Bats and Crocodilians, Penguins, and Whales, 1991
A Natural History of Love, 1994
Monk Seal Hideaway, 1995
The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds, 1995
A Slender Thread: Rediscovering Hope at the Heart of Crisis, 1997
Bats: Shadows in the Night, 1997
Deep Play, 1999
Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden, 2001
An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain, 2004
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story, 2007
Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day, 2009
One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, A Marriage, and the Language of Healing, 2011
The Human Age: The World Shaped By Us, 2014
Poetry:
The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral, 1976
Wife of Light, 1978
Lady Faustus, 1983
Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems, 1991
I Praise My Destroyer, 1998
Origami Bridges, 2002
Animal Sense, 2003
Bibliography
Ackerman, Diane. “Natural Talent.” Interview by Megan Kaplon. The Writer, 128.5 (2015): 16–15. Literary Reference Center. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
"Catching Up with Diane Ackerman, Author of "The Zookeeper's Wife." The Conversation, 19 May 2020, www.nyswritersinstitute.org/post/catching-up-with-diane-ackerman-author-of-the-zookeeper-s-wife. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
“Diane Ackerman.” Poetry Foundation, 2017, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/diane-ackerman. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Ackerman, Diane. "The Sunday Conversation: 'Zookeeper's Wife' Author Diane Ackerman Sees Parallels between World War II and Today." Interview by Josh Getlin. Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2017, www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-conversation-diane-ackerman-zookeepers-wife-20170324-story.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Johnson, T. “Ackerman, Diane. The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us.” CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries 2015: 1532. General OneFile. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Madden, David W. “One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing.” Magill’s Literary Annual 2012 (2012): 1–3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Pugh, Christina. “Origami Bridges: Poems of Psychoanalysis and Fire.” Poetry 182.5 (2003): 291–93. Poetry & Short Story Reference Center. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.