Jennifer Egan '76e
Jennifer Egan '76e was the 2025 Distinguished Alumna Award Recipient.
Jennifer is the author of several novels and a short story collection. Born in Chicago and raised in San Francisco, she is the author of The Invisible Circus, a novel that became a feature film starring Cameron Diaz in 2001; Look at Me, a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction in 2001; Emerald City and Other Stories, The Keep, and A Visit From the Goon Squad, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, and the LA Times Book Prize, and was recently named one of the New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st century. Her 2017 novel, Manhattan Beach, a New York Times bestseller, was awarded the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was chosen as New York City’s One Book One New York read. Her novel, The Candy House, a companion to A Visit From the Goon Squad, was named one of the New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2022 and one of President Obama’s favorite reads of the year. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library.
Jennifer is the author of several novels and a short story collection. Born in Chicago and raised in San Francisco, she is the author of The Invisible Circus, a novel that became a feature film starring Cameron Diaz in 2001; Look at Me, a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction in 2001; Emerald City and Other Stories, The Keep, and A Visit From the Goon Squad, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, and the LA Times Book Prize, and was recently named one of the New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st century. Her 2017 novel, Manhattan Beach, a New York Times bestseller, was awarded the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was chosen as New York City’s One Book One New York read. Her novel, The Candy House, a companion to A Visit From the Goon Squad, was named one of the New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2022 and one of President Obama’s favorite reads of the year. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library.
Also a journalist, Jennifer has written frequently in the New York Times Magazine; her 2002 cover story on homeless children received the Carroll Kowal Journalism Award, and “The Bipolar Kid” received a 2009 NAMI Outstanding Media Award for Science and Health Reporting from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Her year-long reporting on street homelessness and supportive housing in New York City was published in The New Yorker in September 2023.
Jennifer has served as President of PEN America and twice as Artist-in-Residence in the English Department at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has taught courses in 19th and 20th century literature.
She earned her B.A. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania and holds an M.A. from St. John’s College, Cambridge. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.
Q&A from Burke's Magazine, Fall 2022.
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When you were a student at Burke's, what did you dream you'd be doing at this point in your life?
I wanted to be a doctor, and in fact, I have a cringing memory of getting caught passing a note in class in fifth grade (Mr. Hinton) that expressed frustration with our science class by complaining, "I want to study the human body!" I also have a very powerful memory from Burke's related to writing: a children's book writer visited the school when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I remember the encounter with such intensity: sitting in the auditorium in rows while she spoke to us. She gave us one piece of advice, "Write what you know," and although I have mostly defied that advice throughout my career, it was incredible to meet a real, live writer at that age. My wonderment that she had actually written a book, which I could hardly believe a human being could do, has clearly stayed with me.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you hear "Katherine Delmar Burke School"?
Sweet. Fierce. Green.
Who was one of your favorite teachers at Burke's?
Hmmm... this was a long time ago! The name I remember other than Mr. Hinton was Mrs. Hansen, who taught fourth grade. Mary Swope was a magnificent art teacher.
What is a favorite memory from Burke's?
I have wonderful memories of playing tetherball and four square and other games in the Lower School courtyard. Also massive jump-rope performances. And listening to the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" during P.E.
What advice would you give to a current Burke's student?
Notice the physical world of your school: the fog, the cypress trees, the fields. You will likely remember them all your lives.
I wanted to be a doctor, and in fact, I have a cringing memory of getting caught passing a note in class in fifth grade (Mr. Hinton) that expressed frustration with our science class by complaining, "I want to study the human body!" I also have a very powerful memory from Burke's related to writing: a children's book writer visited the school when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I remember the encounter with such intensity: sitting in the auditorium in rows while she spoke to us. She gave us one piece of advice, "Write what you know," and although I have mostly defied that advice throughout my career, it was incredible to meet a real, live writer at that age. My wonderment that she had actually written a book, which I could hardly believe a human being could do, has clearly stayed with me.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you hear "Katherine Delmar Burke School"?
Sweet. Fierce. Green.
Who was one of your favorite teachers at Burke's?
Hmmm... this was a long time ago! The name I remember other than Mr. Hinton was Mrs. Hansen, who taught fourth grade. Mary Swope was a magnificent art teacher.
What is a favorite memory from Burke's?
I have wonderful memories of playing tetherball and four square and other games in the Lower School courtyard. Also massive jump-rope performances. And listening to the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" during P.E.
What advice would you give to a current Burke's student?
Notice the physical world of your school: the fog, the cypress trees, the fields. You will likely remember them all your lives.
Burke's mission is to educate, encourage and empower girls. Our school combines academic excellence with an appreciation for childhood so that students thrive as learners, develop a strong sense of self, contribute to community, and fulfill their potential, now and throughout life.
Burke's admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.