About Daphne
Teaching
Daphne is a dedicated teacher of writing and literature. From 2014-16, she taught for the University of Massachusetts-Boston MFA Program, and from 2017-2023 she taught at Princeton University’s Program in Creative Writing. Her work with graduate students includes MFA programs at Boston University, Emerson College, and Western New England University, among others. She has taught post-MFA students at Grub Street, undergraduates at Middlebury College and elsewhere, and high school students (at the New England Young Writers Conference). She has been writer-in-residence at Skidmore College and Lynchburg College and a visiting author at Dartmouth and other schools. She currently teaches for the Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Degree Program at Harvard Extension School. She also enjoys public speaking and has given talks on the research and writing process at public libraries and academic institutions. She will happily consider visiting or speaking at your institution. Below is her c.v.
Education
Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
PhD, Modern & Contemporary Literature
MFA, Creative Writing
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York
BA, Psychology
Phi Beta Kappa, Cum Laude
Publications
The Archivists: stories (TriQuarterly 2023)
• Winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize
Blue Hours: a novel (TriQuarterly 2019)
• Longlisted, 2020 Massachusetts Book Awards (Fiction)
• Translated editions: Serbian
Sight Reading: a novel (HarperCollins 2013)
• Winner, 2014 New England Society Book Award (Fiction)
• Finalist, 2014 Paterson Fiction Prize
• Boston Globe bestseller + “Highly Recommended” Julia Ward Howe Award
• Translated editions: Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Macedonian
Russian Winter: a novel (HarperCollins 2010)
• Longlisted, 2012 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
• Winner, 2011 Writers’ League of Texas Fiction Award
• National and international bestseller
• 20 translated editions
Calamity and Other Stories (Doubleday 2005)
• Shortlisted, 2005 Story Prize
• Vancouver Sun and Boston Herald “Editor’s Choice”
• Poets & Writers Magazine “Notable Book”
• Runner-up, 2003 Prairie Schooner Prize Series for Short Fiction
• Runner-up, 2003 Prairie Schooner Prize Series for Short Fiction
Stories in AGNI, Consequence, Copper Nickel, The Drum, Five Chapters, The Florida Review, Fusion, Good Housekeeping, Harvard Review, The Literary Review, Memorious, Michigan Quarterly Review, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, Subtropics, Virginia Quarterly Review
Essays in Poets & Writers, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Fusion, Memorious, Post Road, and Now Write!
Book reviews in New York Times Book Review, Tottenville Review, Vassar Quarterly, and Washington Post
Interviews of Mavis Gallant and Peter Orner in Paris Review and Memorious
Translations of Hungarian poetry in Partisan Review
Teaching
Special Program Instructor, Masters in Creative Writing & Literature Program, Harvard Extension School, Cambridge, MA (2018-present)
Lecturer, Program in Creative Writing, Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University (2017-2023)
Visiting Writer, Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, Western New England University (2016)
Visiting Writer in English, University of Massachusetts-Boston (2014-2016)
Novel-in-Progress Instructor, Grub Street, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, 2013
Lecturer, Boston University, Creative Writing Program, Massachusetts, 2012
Visiting Writer-in-Residence, Skidmore College, New York, 2009
Lecturer, Boston University, MFA Program in Creative Writing, 2009
Thornton Writer-in-Residence, Lynchburg College, Virginia, 2007
Instructor, Boston University, College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program, 2003-2006; 1997
Senior Lecturer, Boston University Center for English Language & Orientation Programs, 2003
Visiting Assistant Professor, Middlebury College, Vermont, 1999-2002
Public Speaking
Libraries
Concord Free Public Library, Duxbury Free Library, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Lexington Carey Memorial Library, Mattapoisett Free Public Library, Peabody Institute Library, Reading Public Library, West Falmouth Library, Winchester Public Library, American-Hungarian Library & Historical Center, Truro Public Library
Academic Institutions
Regis College, Weston, Massachusett
Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa
St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York
The Editorial Institute, Boston University, Massachusetts
Concordia University, Austin, Texas
St. Petersburg State University, Russia, for the Educational Bridge Project
Boston University, Keynote Speaker, UNI Commencement Luncheon
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
New England College of Art, Brookline, Massachusetts
Middlebury College, Vermont, Abernethy Series
Old Dominion University Literary Festival, Norfolk, Virginia
Drew University, Madison, New Jersey
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, Read/Write Series
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Honors and Awards
2023 Celia & Wally Gilbert Artist-in-Residence, Cold Springs Laboratory, NY
2022 Fellowship to Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop: Improving Science Literacy Through Words & Media
2021 Lighthouse Works artist-in-residence Fellowship
2020 Research grant awarded for novel-in-progress from Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts
2020 Blue Hours named a Mass Book Award 2020 Fiction “Must Read”
2020 Research funding from Princeton University Committee on Research in the Humanities & Social Sciences
2017 One City One Story Boston winner
2015 Juno Leadership Residency, Omega Women’s Leadership Center, Rhinebeck, NY
2014 New England Society Book Award in Fiction
2013 Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, Liguria Study Center for the Arts & Humanities
2013 Nominee, Brother Thomas Fellowship
2011 Writers League of Texas Book Award in Fiction
2008 Dorothy and Granville Hicks Residency in Literature, Yaddo, New York
2006 Christopher Isherwood Fellowship in Fiction
2005 W. K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts
2004 Macdowell Colony, Resident Fellow, Peterborough, New Hampshire
1998 Florence Engel Randall Prize in Fiction from Boston University
1994 Henfield Foundation Transatlantic Review Award for Fiction
Public Service
Judge, National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, 2021
Final Judge, Young Writers’ Contest, Spencertown Academy Arts Center, NY, 2020
Final Judge, Morse Hamilton Fiction Prize, Tufts University, 2019
Volunteer Speaker at Massachusetts educational programs, 2017
• Facing History and Ourselves, Brookline (education for the prevention of racism)
• Somerville Senior Center, Somerville (through the Council on Aging)
• SCALE, Somerville (free English instruction for non-native speakers)
Humanities Scholar, Cape Cod Fishing Project, Brewster, Massachusetts, 2016-17
• Literature component, Massachusetts Humanities theatre project, “Boundless”
Fellowship Selection Committee, Bogliasco Foundation, Liguria Study Center, Italy, 2015
Second Reader, Novel Incubator Program, Grub Street, Boston, 2014 & 2020
Co-President, Women’s National Book Association, Boston Chapter, 2012-2014
Fiction Evaluator, AWP Award Series, Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, 2011
Volunteer Writer, PerambuLit, audio story for Boston Book Festival, 2011
Final Judge, Florence Engel Randall Fiction Prize, Boston University, 2008 & 2005
Commissioner, Brookline Commission on the Arts, MA, 2003-2008
SELECT MEDIA APPEARANCES
Print
Vijesti, “Daphne Kalotai” interview by Vujica Ognjenovic, December 16, 2020
Boston Globe, “Two coming-of-age stories in one,” by Kate Tuttle, July 25, 2019
Publishers Weekly, review of Blue Hours, July 12, 2019
Boston Globe, review of Blue Hours by Nina MacLaughlin, July 10, 2019
Booklist, review of Blue Hours by Poornima Apte, June 14th, 2019
Post Road, “Recommendation: Calamity and Other Stories” N. Haroutunian, #32, 2017
Wall Street Journal, “Five Best: Alison Anderson on Books About Russia” June 10, 2016
Cleveland Plain Dealer, review of Sight Reading by Donna Marchetti, May 30, 2014
Toronto Star, review of Sight Reading by Jennifer Hunter, July 13, 2013
Boston Globe, review of Sight Reading by Karen Campbell, June 5, 2013
Boston Herald, feature, “‘Sight’ of Interest” by Tenley Woodman, May 28, 2013
NJ Monthly, review of Sight Reading by Sophia Ahn, May 6, 2013
Improper Bostonian, review of Sight Reading by Mopsy Kennedy, May 2013
Kirkus, Big Clip: ‘Sight Reading’ by Daphne Kalotay,” May 1, 2013
Library Journal, review of Sight Reading by Barbara Hoffert, April 15, 2013
Booklist (starred), review of Sight Reading by Michele Leber, April 1, 2013
Times Literary Supplement, review of Russian Winter by Eimear Nolan, March 2, 2012
Vijesti, “Art is What Saves Us” interview by Vujica Ognienovic, January 14, 2012
The Independent, review of Russian Winter, December 23, 2011
USA Today, “Fiction Roundup” by Carol Memmott, June 3, 2011
La Vanguardia, “Entre Boston y Moscú” review by Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, April 2011
The Guardian, “Fiction Roundup” review by Laura Barnett, April 8, 2011
L’Espresso, “Anotamia Del Male” review by Mario Fortunato, March 24, 2011
The Rumpus, “Russian Winter” review by Lindy Moore, February 7, 2011
The Oregonian, review of Russian Winter by Nancy Rommelmann, January 1, 2011
Philadelphia Inquirer, review of Russian Winter by Frank Wilson, November 21, 2010
The New Yorker, “Books Briefly Noted” review of Russian Winter, October 4, 2010
Washington Post, review of Russian Winter by Eugenia Zuckerman, September 8, 2010
O Magazine, “Ten Books to Pick Up Now,” September 2010
Kirkus (starred) review of Russian Winter, June 16, 2010
New York Times Book Review, review by Maggie Galehouse, February 20, 2005
Sunday Oklahoman, review of Calamity by Dennie Hall, January 30, 2005
Los Angeles Times, “First Fiction” review of Calamity by James Marcus, January 23, 2005
San Francisco Chronicle, review of Calamity by Susan Comninos, January 23, 2005
Virginian-Pilot, review of Calamity by Edith White, January 23, 2005
Online
Consequence, review by Clifford Garstang, Nov. 10, 2019
WBUR The ARTery, profile by Katie Ouellette, October 15, 2019
Harvard Review, interview by Mandeliene Smith, autumn 2019
ShelfAwareness, “The Writer’s Life, Reading With...” interview, July 26, 2019
LitHub Author Questionnaire, interview by Teddy Wayne, July 9, 2019
Memorious, interviewed by Rebecca Morgan Frank, July 15, 2019
The Brooklyn Rail, Roundtable Conversation: Women and War Literature, Oct. 3, 2018
Subtropics, feature interview by Marie McGrath, Winter 2018
JewishBoston.com, interview by Judy Bolton-Fasman, October 23, 2017
Radio
Podcast Stories and Humanitarian Action, Interview by Ruth Mukwana, July 13, 2021
New Books Network, interview by GP Gottlieb, September 17, 2019
BTR Today, Book Talk with Kory French, interview for Blue Hours, August 15, 2019
Public Radio International, The World, interview about Mavis Gallant, Feb. 20, 2014
WBUR, Radio Boston, “Zip-Code Stories,” August 8, 2011
WNYC, Leonard Lopate Show, interview about Russian Winter, November 12, 2010
