Amanda Davis

Early life

Amanda Davis was born on February 28, 1971. Davis graduated from Charles E. Jordan High School and received a B.A. in theatre at Wesleyan University as well as a M.F.A. in fiction at Brooklyn College.

Career

In 1999, Davis published a series of short stories called "Circling the Drain". The work has been reviewed by various newspapers including The New York Times and Los Angeles Times as well as the website Salon. Davis' short story, "Louisiana Loses Its Cricket Hum", was featured in the 2001 edition of "Best New American Voices". Four days prior to her death, Davis interviewed with Dawn Dreyer of Indy Week regarding her life and career. Furthermore, according to Michael Chabon, Davis planned to write a second novel, either a historical novel about "early Jewish immigrants to the South" or a "creepy modern gothic".

Outside of writing, Davis taught undergraduate and graduate fiction at Mills College.

Personal life

Throughout her life Amanda Davis was Jewish and had a brother named Adam Davis.

Death

On March 14, 2003, while touring for her first novel, Wonder When You′ll Miss Me, Davis was in a Cessna 177 Cardinal being piloted by her father, James Davis. 18 miles from the Asheville Regional Airport, the plane crashed on Old Fort Mountain in McDowell County, North Carolina, killing Davis and her parents. After her death, several writers paid respects for her, including Heidi Julavits for Poets & Writers Magazine and others on McSweeney's, the same site that Davis' work previously appeared.

Legacy

In honor of Davis' life, McSweeney's introduced an award called the "Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award" in 2004, which awarded women writers 32 years old or younger who embodied "Amanda’s personal strengths—warmth, generosity, a passion for community—and who needs some time to finish a book in progress".