About
Elizabeth Shick is an award-winning novelist whose creativity is influenced by her many years living abroad, including six years in Myanmar. Originally from Newton, Massachusetts, she grew up dreaming of other worlds, both real and imagined.
As an Africana Studies major at Vassar College, Liz spent a transformative year at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in 1988-89. She went on to obtain a Master of International Affairs in Economic and Political Development and a Certificate of African Studies from Columbia University.
Liz has since worked for a variety of international development organizations and humanitarian agencies in Angola, Bangladesh, Italy, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Tanzania, and The Gambia. Along the way, she met and married her Italian-Australian husband and raised two wonderful and worldly daughters and three well-traveled cats.
Liz began writing fiction in 2005 and has been scribbling away ever since. In 2019, she received her MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. Her debut novel, The Golden Land, is the winner of the 2021 AWP Prize for the Novel.
Liz lives on Martha’s Vineyard, where she works as Adult Program Coordinator at the Vineyard Haven Library. She serves on the Board of her MFA alumni association, Cambridge Common Writers.
Short Bio
Elizabeth Shick is an award-winning novelist whose writing is influenced by her many years abroad—including six years in Myanmar, where The Golden Land is set. With a background in international development, she has also lived and worked in Angola, Bangladesh, Gambia, Italy, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. She now lives in Massachusetts, where she works as Adult Program Coordinator for the Vineyard Haven Library and serves on the Board of her MFA alumni association, Cambridge Common Writers. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Lesley University and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University. Her debut novel, The Golden Land, is the winner of the 2021 AWP Prize for the Novel.