Anya

Susan Fromberg Schaeffer was an American novelist, poet, and longtime Professor of English at Brooklyn College, where she taught creative writing and literature for more than three decades. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago and her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, where she studied under Saul Bellow’s circle of influence and wrote her dissertation on Vladimir Nabokov.

Her fiction is distinguished by its rich historical imagination, psychological depth, and vivid, immersive prose. Her best-known novel, Anya (1974), a harrowing portrait of a Jewish woman’s survival during the Holocaust, was widely acclaimed and remains her signature work. Other notable titles include Falling, Love, The Snow Fox, Time in its Flight, and The Injured Party. Over her career she published fourteen novels and six collections of poetry, along with short stories, children’s books, and other works.

Schaeffer’s writing earned numerous honors, including the Poetry Society of America’s Gold Medal and the Pushcart Prize. She was admired by readers and critics alike for her ability to move between poetry and sweeping narrative fiction with equal command. She died in 2011, leaving behind a substantial and enduring body of work.