Julie Schumacher

Julie Schumacher
Born
Wilmington, Delaware, United States
OccupationsNovelist, essayist, short story writer, academic
SpouseLawrence R. Jacobs
Children2
AwardsThurber Prize for American Humor
Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Fellowship
The Loft Literary Center Loft-McKnight Award in Creative Prose
Academic background
EducationOberlin College (B.A., 1981)
Cornell University (M.F.A., 1986)
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Minnesota
Websitejulieschumacher.com

Julie Schumacher is an American novelist, essayist, short story writer, and academic. She is a Regents Professor of English at the University of Minnesota.[1] Schumacher specializes in creative writing, contemporary fiction, and children's literature.

Education

Schumacher received her bachelor's degree in Spanish and Latin American studies from Oberlin College in 1981.[2][3] She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University in 1986.[4][5]

Career

Following her MFA, Schumacher was an assistant professor at St. Olaf College[6] and other academic institutions before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota as an associate professor in 1996.[5][7] She was promoted to professor in 2008, and became Regents Professor in 2021.[7] She has won multiple teaching awards and served as director of the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Minnesota for thirteen years.[1]

Works

Schumacher has authored multiple novels, stories, and essays. Her first novel, The Body Is Water, was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. Her other books include An Explanation for Chaos[8] and five books for young readers: The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls,[9] The Chain Letter,[10] Black Box,[11] The Book of One Hundred Truths,[12] and Grass Angel.[13]

Schumacher is also the author of the national best-selling epistolary novel, Dear Committee Members,[14][15][16] for which she was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor. She was the first woman to win the Thurber Prize.[17] An NPR review noted that the novel "deftly mixes comedy with social criticism and righteous outrage."[18]

In 2018, Schumacher published The Shakespeare Requirement, which Kirkus Reviews called a "satire that oscillates between genuine compassion and scathing mockery with admirable dexterity."[19] The New Yorker described the novel as a "sad-professor satire that burns with moral anger."[20]

Awards and honors

Bibliography

Books

  • The Body is Water (1995) ISBN 978-1-56947-042-8
  • An Explanation for Chaos (1998) ISBN 978-0-380-73050-6
  • Grass Angel (2004) ISBN 978-0-385-73073-0
  • The Chain Letter (2005) ISBN 978-0-385-73169-0
  • The Book of One Hundred Truths (2006) ISBN 978-0-385-73290-1
  • Black Box (2008) ISBN 978-0-385-73542-1
  • The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls (2012) ISBN 978-0-385-73773-9
  • Dear Committee Members (2014) ISBN 978-0-345-80733-5
  • Doodling for Academics: A Coloring and Activity Book (2017) ISBN 978-0-226-46704-7
  • The Shakespeare Requirement (2018) ISBN 978-0-385-54234-0
  • The English Experience (2023) ISBN 978-0-385-55012-3

Selected articles

Personal life

Schumacher is married to Lawrence R. Jacobs, a political scientist who is the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota.[26] They met in an English class during their first year at Oberlin College.[27]

They have two adult daughters, Emma and Isabella.[28]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Julie Schumacher". University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  2. 1 2 Ghere, Erin (2000-05-31). "Professor 'buys' time for extra writing". The Minnesota Daily. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  3. ↑ Berretta, Matías (April 15, 2016). "'Dear Committee Members' Pokes Fun at Academic Hierarchy". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  4. ↑ Janka, Laura (January 23, 2009). "Alumni authors recall their Cornell years in writing program". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  5. 1 2 "Schumacher, Julie (Alison) 1958–". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  6. ↑ "Author Julie Schumacher to Present Northfield Reads! Event". Carleton College. 2005-02-25. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Julie Schumacher Named Regents Professor, U's Highest Faculty Honor". University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  8. ↑ "AN EXPLANATION FOR CHAOS". Kirkus Reviews. December 1, 1996. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  9. ↑ "The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls". Kirkus Reviews. February 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ "THE CHAIN LETTER". Kirkus Reviews. January 15, 2005.
  11. ↑ "Black Box". Kirkus Reviews. August 1, 2008.
  12. ↑ "The Book of One Hundred Truths by Julie Schumacher". Publishers Weekly. 2006-10-02. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  13. ↑ "GRASS ANGEL". Kirkus Reviews. January 15, 2004.
  14. ↑ "Julie Schumacher". Milkweed Editions. 2026-08-12. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  15. ↑ "Dear Committee Members". Kirkus Reviews. May 6, 2014.
  16. ↑ Peteroy, Don (4 September 2015). "Dear Committee Members reviewed". The Cincinnati Review.
  17. 1 2 Czajkowski, Elise (2015-09-29). "Julie Schumacher becomes first woman to win Thurber prize for humor writing". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  18. ↑ Corrigan, Maureen (2014-08-12). "In A Funny New Novel, A Weary Professor Writes To 'Dear Committee Members'". NPR. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  19. ↑ "The Shakespeare Requirement". Kirkus Reviews. May 14, 2018.
  20. ↑ Waldman, Katy (9 August 2018). ""The Shakespeare Requirement" Is a Sad-Professor Satire That Burns with Moral Anger". The New Yorker.
  21. ↑ "Julie Schumacher". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  22. ↑ "Awards". University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  23. ↑ "Julie Schumacher". University of Minnesota Scholars Walk. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  24. ↑ "Julie Schumacher". University of Minnesota Scholars Walk. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  25. ↑ "2021 Regents Professors announced". University of Minnesota Brief. 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  26. ↑ "Larry Jacobs". University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  27. ↑ Schumacher, Julie A. (Fall 2018). "I Married a Pundit". Minnesota Alumni. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  28. ↑ Jacobs, Lawrence R. (1993). The Health of Nations: Public Opinion and the Making of American and British Health Policy. Cornell University Press. p. xiv. ISBN 0-8014-2761-4.
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