Penelope Rowlands

Penelope Rowlands
Born London, England
Occupation Author, Editor, Journalist
Language English
Period 1985–
Genre Biography, Anthology

Penelope Rowlands is an Anglo-American author, editor, and journalist best known for her 2005 biography, A Dash of Daring: Carmel Snow and Her Life in Fashion, Art, and Letters,[1] about the Irish-born editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar (from 1934-58).

Biographies

A Dash of Daring

A Dash of Daring -- published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster -- was widely reviewed.[2][3][4][5] BBC Radio 4 said Rowlands “revive(d Snow's) legacy," which encompassed all of the arts, beyond just fashion.[6] The Irish Times said the biography provided "a more complete picture of Snow's time at the forefront of the magazine industry."[7] Fashion editors in particular, weighed in. Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune wrote that "Penelope Rowlands tells a dense, fast-paced story and deftly puts it in the context of magazine history.... Carmel Snow comes vividly to life [8]. Vogue's Anna Wintour called it a "wonderful new biography" in the editor's column of the September, 2005 issue. Writing in New York Times Book Review, Cathy Horyn opined that "Rowlands successfully tells the story of Snow's life, but its larger significance eludes her."[9]

The biography was excerpted in U.S.Vogue in September 2005. The British version of Harper's Bazaar also published an excerpt. That text ran in the January 2006 issue -- the first one since the publication was transformed from the former Harpers & Queen.

A Dash of Daring was published in Britain by Simon & Schuster UK in 2006. A U.S. paperback edition came out two years later.

Rowlands is also the author of short biographies of the European industrial designers Jean Prouvé and Eileen Gray, both published in 2002.

Anthologies

Paris Was Ours

In 2011, Rowlands conceived, edited, and contributed an essay to the anthology, Paris Was Ours, which looked at the transformative effect the French capital has had on a disparate, international group of contemporary writers, including Edmund White, Diane Johnson, the Cuban novelist Zoé Valdés, Judith Thurman, the Iraqi-born Assyrian editor Samuel Shimon and a homeless French blogger.[10][11]

Paris Was Ours was chosen as the January 2011, Book of the Month by National Geographic Traveler magazine.[12] Rochelle Olson of the Star Tribune noted the book's realistic approach. "In dismantling the dream of Paris, they reveal an infinitely more complex city and people," she wrote.[13] The Chicago Tribune called it a "sparkling collection."[14] Charles Solomon, writing for the Los Angeles Times, warned that some of "the essays tell the reader more about the authors' peccadilloes and prejudices than they do about Paris or Parisians."[15]

The Beatles Are Here!

In 2014 Rowlands edited and contributed to the tribute anthology The Beatles Are Here! 50 Years After the Band Arrived in America, Writers, Musicians, and Other Fans Remember, was published to coincide with the anniversary of the group's arrival in the US.[16] James Wolcott described it in Vanity Fair magazine as "A goody bag of tributes and recollections,"[17] while the music critic of The Boston Globe, James Reed, called it "One of the more fascinating new books on the Fab Four’s impact." [18] Publishers Weekly called it, "compulsively readable."[19] Kirkus Reviews called it, "A bonbon for fans but a legacy better served by more substantive journalism."[20]

Journalism

Rowlands's journalistic work includes articles on cultural subjects written for publications such as Vogue, The New York Times, WSJ. magazine, The Daily Beast, the Columbia Journalism Review, and Elle Decor. She has been a contributing writer to Architectural Digest and a contributing editor to ARTnews and Metropolis magazines. She has also written book reviews for the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other publications.

Background

Born in London to an American mother and a British father, Rowlands migrated to the United States with her family at the age of five and was raised in her mother's native New York City. She is a citizen of both the U.S. and Great Britain. She received a B.A. from Bard College and an M.A. from Stanford University. She has lived in California and Paris but now resides in Princeton, New Jersey. [21][22]

Bibliography

  • 2014 The Beatles Are Here! 50 Years After The Band's Arrival in America, Writers, Musicians, and Other Fans Remember, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
  • 2011 Paris Was Ours: 32 Writers Reflect on the City of Light, Algonquin Books
  • 2005 A Dash of Daring: Carmel Snow and Her Life in Fashion, Art, and Letters, Atria Books (Simon & Schuster)
  • 2002 Jean Prouvé: Visionary Humanist, Chronicle Books
  • 2002 Eileen Gray: Modern Alchemist, Chronicle Books
  • 2000 Weekend Houses (with photographer Mark Darley), Chronicle Books

References

  1. ↑ "A Dash of Daring". Simon & Schuster.
  2. ↑ Rubin, Sylvia (27 November 2005). "Seeing fashion in a new light / Carmel Snow lived for the magazine she brought to life. A new book captures a largely forgotten trend-setter's time". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "Excellent, even if not best-selling". USA Today. 1 December 2005. , retrieved 26 September 2013
  4. ↑ Roper, Anne (30 April 2006). "Smashed on the rocks of fashion". The Independent (UK), retrieved 26 September 2013
  5. ↑ "A DASH OF DARING by Penelope Rowlands". The New Yorker. 20 March 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Her biographer revives her legacy". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  7. ↑ O'Byrne, Robert, "A Native Magazine Maven" http://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-native-magazine-maven-1.1042176 retrieved 2 October 2014
  8. ↑ Menkes, Suzy (31 May 2006). "Priestess of the modern glossy". International Herald Tribune, retrieved 26 September 2013
  9. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/books/review/04horyn.html?_r=0, retrieved May 10.2014
  10. ↑ Cuthbert, Mike (1 February 2011). "Paris Was Ours: A Parisian twist to life". AARP Prime Time Radio. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  11. ↑ Meadows, Susannah (16 February 2011). "Newly Released Books". New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  12. ↑ George, Don. "Book of the Month: Paris Was Ours, edited by Penelope Rowlands". National Geographic Traveler. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Olson, Rochelle (5 February 2011). "'Paris' exposes the gritty reality of the City of Light". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Sawyers, June (16 August 2011). "They'll always have Paris". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  15. ↑ Solomon, Charles. "Book Review: 'Paris Was Ours,' edited by Penelope Rowlands". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "THE BEATLES ARE HERE!". Algonquin Books. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  17. ↑ James Wolcott, Vanity Fair (December 2013) http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/12/beatles-books-british-invasion, retrieved 1 April 2014
  18. ↑ James Reed, 50 Years After Beatlemania, a Look at a Year of Change, The Boston Globe (8 February 2014) https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/02/08/years-after-beatlemania-look-year-change/kjL0HHrvP7KUJQXWDmROBJ/story.html retrieved 1 April 2014
  19. ↑ "The Beatles Are Here!: 50 Years After the Band Arrived in America, Writers, Musicians, and Other Fans Remember". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "THE BEATLES ARE HERE! 50 Years After the Band Arrived in America, Writers, Musicians & Other Fans Remember". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  21. ↑ Penelope Rowlands, The Telegraph (UK), January 31,2011 "Paris Was Mine". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  22. ↑ "Interview with Penelope Rowlands, editor of Paris Was Ours". Retrieved 18 June 2018.

Further reading

  • "Penelope Rowlands" in Contemporary Authors Online (Gale, 2014)
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