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Miranda Cowley Heller

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miranda Cowley Heller
Born1962
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHarvard University
Notable work"The Paper Palace" (2021)
SpouseBruno Heller

Miranda Phillips Cowley Heller (born in 1962)[1] is an American writer, novelist, and TV developer. She is known for her debut novel, The Paper Palace, which was published in 2021 to acclaim.

Personal life

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Cowley Heller grew up in New York in a literary and artistic family.[1] Her grandfather, Malcolm Cowley, was a renowned poet and critic, her aunt Hayden Herrera is an art historian and biographer, and her sister-in-law Zoë Heller is also a writer.[1][2][3] She is a graduate of Harvard University.[4] Cowley Heller was accepted into a PhD program in art history at UCLA but turned it down to move with her husband, Bruno Heller, a British TV screenwriter, for his job.[4] She currently splits time living in London, Los Angeles, and Cape Cod.[5][4]

Career

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Cowley Heller has had a prolific career across books, magazines, and TV.[1] She began her career at Cosmopolitan magazine where she worked as a fiction and books editor.[1][4][3] She spent a decade as head of drama series at HBO in the early 2000s.[6] While at HBO, she worked on hit shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Big Love, and Deadwood.[4][7] As a writer, she has worked both as a ghostwriter and a screenwriting editor.[6] In 2021, she published her own debut novel, The Paper Palace.[1]

TV

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In 1997, Cowley Heller moved to LA to begin her job at HBO.[3] She spent nearly a decade working there as senior vice president and head of drama series.[1][6] She began at HBO before a drama series department existed, and she led with a "writer-led" approach to TV development.[4]

The Paper Palace

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In 2021, Cowley published her debut novel, The Paper Palace.[8][4][7] According to the review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received positive reviews from critics.[9] It was a #1 New York Times' Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick, and longlisted for the 2022 Women's Prize for Fiction.[10][11][12][3] Thirty international editions of the book have also been published.[3]

The book rights were purchased by HBO, which has plans to develop it into a mini-series with Cowley Heller developing the screenplay.[4]

Published works

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  • (2021) The Paper Palace. New York: Riverhead Books. ISBN 978-0-593-32982-5

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Anderson, Hephzibah (2021-07-10). "Miranda Cowley Heller: 'Writing sex scenes has never scared me'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  2. ^ Egan, Elisabeth (2021-07-29). "Everything Old Is New Again and Other Best-Selling Wisdom". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e "My Life In Books: Miranda Cowley Heller | SheerLuxe". sheerluxe.com. 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Brennan, Marjorie (2021-07-10). "From HBO TV to her debut novel: Miranda Cowley Heller on finding her voice". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  5. ^ Team, i (2022-04-21). "Miranda Cowley Heller: 'I write in a big old barn looking over the treetops on Cape Cod'". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  6. ^ a b c Angelini, Francesca. "Miranda Cowley Heller, the TV drama boss behind The Wire and The Sopranos, on her debut novel". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  7. ^ a b "Viking triumphs in nine-way auction for début literary love story". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  8. ^ Kelly, Mary Louise (July 21, 2021). "Love Is A Losing Game And Choice Is A Curse In 'The Paper Palace'". NPR. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "Book Marks reviews of The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller". Book Marks. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Green, Penelope (2022-08-13). "Bohemia Beach Is Having Another Day in the Sun". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  11. ^ O'Neill, Lauren (2022-07-20). "How Reese Witherspoon's Book Club changed Hollywood for women". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  12. ^ Community (2022-03-09). "The 2022 Women's Prize Long List". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
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