Katherine Vaz (born August 26, 1955) is a Portuguese-American writer. A Briggs-Copeland Fellow in Fiction at Harvard University (2003–2009), a 2006–2007 Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Fall, 2012 Harman Fellow at Baruch College in New York, she is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Above the Salt, a People Magazine Book of the Week and a Top Book of November, a Top Three Pick by Good Morning, America, and a Most Anticipated Book for Fall, 2023 by Zibby’s Books and Goodreads. Vaz's novel Saudade (St. Martin’s Press, 1994) is the first contemporary novel about Portuguese-Americans from a major New York publisher. It was optioned by Marlee Matlin/Solo One Productions and selected in the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers series. Her novel, Mariana, (HarperCollins, 1997), was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the Top 30 International Books of 1998 and has been translated into six languages. Mariana has been optioned for screen development with Harrison Productions. Vaz's first short story collection Fado & Other Stories received the 1997 Drue Heinz Literature Prize and her second collection, Our Lady of the Artichokes, won the 2007 Prairie Schooner Book Prize. Vaz is a recipient of a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1993) and the Davis Humanities Institute Fellowship (1999). She has been named by the Luso-Americano as one of the Top 50 Luso-Americanos of the twentieth century and is the first Portuguese-American to have her work recorded for the Library of Congress, housed in the Hispanic Division. The Portuguese-American Women’s Association (PAWA) named her 2003 Woman of the Year. She was appointed to the six-person U.S. Presidential Delegation to open the American Pavilion at the World’s Fair/Expo 98 in Lisbon. She lives in New York City and the Springs area of East Hampton with Christopher Cerf, whom she married in July 2015.

Awards

Accolades

Published works

Novels

Story collections

Short stories

Non-fiction

Children's literature

Critical response

Vaz's novel "Saudade" received positive reviews, earning an average 4/5 stars on Goodreads. According to the Library Journal, “This wonderfully inventive novel, which contains elements of magic realism, is infused with a sense of saudade-a Portuguese word that, according to the author, can be understood as an extremely intense longing for a time, place, or people... First novelist Vaz has written a challenging and rewarding work of fiction.” Her novels "Mariana" and "Above the Salt" also received positive reviews. According to Maaza Mengiste, “Katherine Vaz writes with piercing, startling beauty: every sentence suffused with longing, every moment shining with possibility. In Above the Salt she offers us a story of discovery and loss, and the fragile but unwavering bonds of love that endure, despite it all. Vaz’s Saudade is a novel that has stayed with me for decades. In this latest book, Katherine Vaz has confirmed herself as one of our best writers.”

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