Maurice Blanchot, 1907 - Novelist and critic Maurice Blanchot was born in 1907. Some of his works in translation include "Death Sentence" (1978), "The Gaze of Orpheus" (1981), "Madness of the Day" (1988), "The One Who Was Standing Apart From Me" (1993), all of which were translated by Lydia Davis, and "Michel Foucault as I Imagine Him" (translated by Jeffrey Mehlman, 1987).
Paul Auster was born on February 3, 1947, in Newark, New Jersey. In addition to his career as a writer, Auster has been a census taker, tutor, merchant seaman, little-league baseball coach, and a telephone operator. After graduating from Columbia in 1970, he started his writing career as a translator. He soon gained popularity for the detective novels that make up his New York Trilogy. Auster's novel, "The Invention of Solitude," is a memoir exploring the relationship he had with his father. Auster has gradually shifted from mystery writing to science fiction. His other works include "Leviathan" and "Moon Palace." In addition to his novels, Auster has written screenplays and directed… several films. He is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a French Prix Medicis for Foreign Literature.
Lydia Davis is the author of several works of fiction. She is also a noted translator. She teaches at Bard College and lives in Port Ewen, New York.