Virginia Evans
Virginia Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 2, 1986 South Carolina, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
| Education | |
| Genre | |
| Notable works | The Correspondent |
| Notable awards | Women's Prize for Fiction |
| Website | |
| virginiaevansauthor | |
Virginia Evans (born on June 2, 1986)[1][2] is an American novelist. She won the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction with her novel The Correspondent.[3]
Early life and education
Evans' family moved to Severna Park, Maryland, when she was in elementary school, where she would live most of her childhood.[4] Her father managed retirement communities, while her mother was an event planner for a catering company.
She received a Bachelor's degree in English literature from James Madison University[5]. There she met her husband, Mark Evans.[4] In 2019, she and her family moved from the United States to Dublin so that she could pursue a Master's degree in creative writing from Trinity College Dublin.[6][7] She started writing The Correspondent after returning to the United States. She lives in Winston-Salem, NC[8] and is married with two children.[9]
Before The Correspondent, Evans wrote seven unsuccessful books over 18 years, completing her first when she was 19. She wrote a self-published novel in 2019.[10] While working on her novels, she ran the Rotary Club in her city for seven years, she was the scheduler for an orthopedic surgeon for a few years, she worked for a bankruptcy lawyer for a year, and was a barista.[11]
Works
- Evans, Virginia (April 29, 2025). The Correspondent. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-593-79843-0. [12][13][14][15][16]
By December 2025, The Correspondent had sold 550,000 copies and was on The New York Times best-seller list.[17] The novel went on to win the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction.[3]
References
- ^ "Literary Birthday – 2 June – Virginia Evans". Writer's wight. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
- ^ Meet the Author: Virginia Evans, 'The Correspondent' on YouTube
- ^ a b Loffhagen, Emma (June 11, 2026). "Women's prize: Virginia Evans wins for fiction and Lyse Doucet takes award for nonfiction". The Guardian. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
- ^ a b Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. "She Almost Gave Up. Now She Has the Year's Unlikely Hit Novel". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
- ^ "Meet the Author: Virginia Evans, 'The Correspondent'" on YouTube
- ^ More, Renee-Itsbooktalk & (June 10, 2025). "Books & Beyond: A Literary Conversation With Virginia Evans, Author of The Correspondent". ItsBookTalk & More. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
- ^ Tagen-Dye, Carly. "How The Correspondent Became This Year's Breakout Hit Novel". People. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
- ^ "Virginia Evans | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
- ^ Trachtenberg, Jeffrey (November 8, 2025). "She Almost Gave Up. Now She Has the Year's Unlikely Hit Novel". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Trachtenberg, Jeffrey (November 8, 2025). "She Almost Gave Up. Now She Has the Year's Unlikely Hit Novel". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Krug, Nora. "The story behind the feel-good novel of the year". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
- ^ WSJ, Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg | Photographs by Endia Beal for (November 8, 2025). "She Almost Gave Up. Now She Has the Year's Unlikely Hit Novel". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
- ^ Sperti, Holli (April 23, 2025). "Miraculous and Mundane, "The Correspondent" Explores Rebirth in a Winter Season". Southern Review of Books. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
- ^ "A Well-Written Life by Julie A. Sellers". HPPR. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
- ^ "'The Correspondent' Author Virginia Evans Talks About Her Breakout Novel". The New York Times. January 9, 2026. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ "Miraculous and Mundane, 'The Correspondent' Explores Rebirth in a Winter Season". Southern Review of Books. April 23, 2025. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Alter, Alexandra; Harris, Elizabeth A. (December 23, 2025). "From 'Mona's Eyes' to 'Theo of Golden': This Year's Surprise Hit Novels". The New York Times.