Personal Information for Edna Ferber




	Personal Information for Edna Ferber Born: August 15, 1885 Died: April 16, 1968 Occupations: Authors, Journalists, Novelists Subjects: Family, Fiction, Journalism, Literature, Anti-Semitism, Books Biographical Information: Known for her intense passion for America, especially America's workers, Edna Ferber wrote novels, plays and short stories in which her female characters were often determined women who overcame obstacles to find success in their chosen pursuits.Born to an American-born mother and a Hungarian born-father in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Ferber spent much of her childhood moving from state to state. She later wrote that these early years-filled with her family's struggles with poverty, and personal incidents of anti-Semitism-formed the foundation of her identity as a Jew, and even pushed her to the self-expression of writing. At age seventeen, Ferber left her small Iowa town for Appleton and later Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she wrote for newspapers. Her writing eventually led her to New York in 1912, where she continued to publish, writing twelve novels, twelve collections of short stories, two autobiographies, and nine plays. Her novels inspired the film Giant and the musical Show Boat. Related Collections (1) Related Collections Edna Ferber papers How to Cite This Page For a bibliography: Jewish Women's Archive. "Personal Information for Edna Ferber." <http://jwa.org/archive/jsp/perInfo.jsp?personID=480>. For a footnote: Jewish Women's Archive, "Personal Information for Edna Ferber," <http://jwa.org/archive/jsp/perInfo.jsp?personID=480>.