Dara Horn
Born	1977 (age 47–48) New Jersey, US
Occupation	Author, professor
Language	English, Hebrew, Yiddish
Education	Harvard University (BA,PhD) University of Cambridge
Period	2002-present
Notable works	In the Image The World to Come All Other Nights A Guide for the Perplexed Eternal Life People Love Dead Jews
Notable awards	Edward Lewis Wallant Award (2002) National Jewish Book Award (2003, 2006, and 2021) Harold U. Ribalow Prize (2007)
Children	4
Website
darahorn.com
Literature portal

Dara Horn (born 1977) is an American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a nonfiction essay collection titledPeople Love Dead Jews, which was a finalist for the 2021Kirkus Prize in nonfiction. She won theEdward Lewis Wallant Award in 2002, theNational Jewish Book Award in 2003, 2006, and 2021, and theHarold U. Ribalow Prize in 2007.

Horn was born in 1977 and grew up inShort Hills, New Jersey with three siblings.^[1] She attendedMillburn High School and was co-captain of theQuiz Bowl team.^[1] Her mother, Susan, was an English teacher with a Ph.D in Jewish studies.^[1] Horn's father, Matthew, is a dentist.^[1] The family travelled internationally during her childhood, and her parents encouraged Horn and her siblings to write journals about their trips.^[2] When Horn was 14, she won a trip to Poland and Israel in a quiz competition aboutIsraeli history, and then wrote an essay about her trip forHadassah Magazine that was nominated for aNational Magazine Award in 1993.^[1]

She received her BA in comparative literature,summa cum laude, in 1999 and herPh.D. in comparative literature inHebrew andYiddish in 2006, both fromHarvard University.^[3] She finished her master's degree in Hebrew literature atCambridge University.^[4]

She taught classes in Jewish literature and Israeli history atSarah Lawrence College and theCity University of New York. She held the Weinstock visiting professorship in Jewish Studies at Harvard,^[5] teaching Yiddish and Hebrew literature. Horn served as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar atYeshiva University during the 2019–2020 academic year. She has also been a contributor to theNew York Times andThe Atlantic.^[6]

Horn's first novel,In the Image, published byW. W. Norton when she was 25, received a 2003National Jewish Book Award^[7] and the 2002Edward Lewis Wallant Award.^[4]

Her second novel,The World to Come, also published by W. W. Norton in January 2006, received the 2006 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction^[7] and the 2007Harold U. Ribalow Prize, was selected as an Editors' Choice inThe New York Times Book Review and as one of the Best Books of 2006 by theSan Francisco Chronicle,^[8] and has been translated into eleven languages.

Horn's third novel,All Other Nights, published in April 2009 by W. W. Norton, was selected as an Editors' Choice intheNew York Times Book Review.^[9]

Her fourth novel,A Guide for the Perplexed, was published in September 2013. A review in theNew York Times stated, "Horn has taught Jewish literature and history, and her writing comes from a place of deep knowledge and research...I admired Horn’s intensity and integrity, much as I admired the same qualities in her characters."^[10]

Horn's fifth novel,Eternal Life, was published in January 2018 by W. W. Norton.^[5] It was selected as one ofThe New York Times'100 Notable Books of 2018.^[11]

Horn released her first nonfiction book,People Love Dead Jews, in 2021.^[12] The title is based on a 2018Smithsonian Magazine article by Horn that began "People love dead Jews. Living Jews, not so much," which is reprinted in the book as an essay titled "Everyone's (Second) Favorite Dead Jew."^[13] According toYaniv Iczkovits in theNew York Times, the collection of twelve essays "explore how the different ways we commemorate Jewish tragedy, how we write about the Holocaust, how the media presents antisemitic events, how we establish museums to honor Jewish heritage, how we read literature with Jewish protagonists and even how we praise the "righteous among the nations" (those who saved Jews during the war), are all distractions from the main issue, which is the very concrete, specific death of Jews."^[14] Writing in theWall Street Journal,Martin Peretz said, "This is a beautiful book, and in its particular genre—nonfiction meditations on the murder of Jews, particularly in the Holocaust, and the place of the dead in the American imagination—it can have few rivals. In fact, I can’t think of any."^[15]People Love Dead Jews was a finalist for the 2021Kirkus Prize in nonfiction.^[16] TheNew York Times listed it as one of the 100 Notable books of 2021,^[17] andPublishers Weekly listed it in the top 20 books of the year.^[18]Tablet magazine produced a companion podcast,Adventures With Dead Jews, hosted by Horn, where she explores topics in Jewish history that didn't make it into the book.^[19]

She lives with her husband, daughter, and three sons. Horn has one brother and two sisters.^[1]

• Horn, Dara (2002).In the Image. New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN 0-393-05106-4.^[20]
• Horn, Dara (2006).The World to Come. New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN 0-393-05107-2.^[21]
• Horn, Dara (2009).All Other Nights. New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN 978-0-393-06492-6.^[22]
• Horn, Dara (2013).A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN 978-0-393-06489-6.^[23]
• Horn, Dara (2018).Eternal Life. New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN 978-0-393-60853-3.^[24]
• Horn, Dara (2021).People Love Dead Jews. New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN 978-0-393-53157-2.^[25]

• 2002Edward Lewis Wallant Award
• 2003National Jewish Book Award
• 2006 National Jewish Book Award
• Best Books of 2006 by theSan Francisco Chronicle
• Granta magazine, Best Young American Novelists, 2007^[26]
• 2007Harold U. Ribalow Prize
• Finalist, 2021Kirkus Prize in nonfiction

Wikiquote has quotations related toDara Horn.

• Official website
• The New York Times article archive
• Interview at BookBrowse.com
• Story behind A Guide for the Perplexed - Online Essay by Dara Horn

• Living people
• 1977 births
• Writers from Millburn, New Jersey
• 21st-century American Jews
• Millburn High School alumni
• Harvard University alumni
• Novelists from New Jersey
• 21st-century American women writers
• American women novelists
• 21st-century American novelists
• Jewish American novelists
• 21st-century American essayists
• American women academics
• Sarah Lawrence College faculty
• 21st-century American women educators
• 21st-century American educators
• Writers on antisemitism
• Jewish women writers
• Jewish American essayists
• American podcasters
• American women podcasters

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata