Rene Denfeld
Rene Denfeld | |
|---|---|
 Denfeld in 2014 | |
| Born | c.1968 (age 57–58) |
| Occupations |
|
| Children | 3 (all adopted) |
| Writing career | |
| Language | English |
| Years active | 2014– |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Notable work | The Enchanted (2014) |
| Notable awards |
|
| Website | renedenfeld |
Rene Denfeld (born c. 1968[1]) is an American author[2][3][4] and investigator for the Portland office of the U.S. public defender. She works with sex-trafficking victims and death row prisoners, who have inspired her writing.
Biography
[edit]Since 2015, Denfeld has openly discussed her childhood, raised by an alcoholic mother and was sexually and emotionally abused by her stepfather, a sex offender who opened the family home to other pedophiles.[5] As a teenager, she ran away from home and lived on the streets, became estranged from her family,[6] and earned an income by working for McDonald's. She left school in the ninth grade, and taught herself to write by reading.[1] Denefeld is now an author, teacher, coach, justice worker, and licensed defense investigator.[7]
Her first novel, The Enchanted, was awarded the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger award and an ALA Medal of Excellence for Fiction.[8] The book was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, The Oregonian's Best Book of the Year, listed for the Dublin Literary Award for Fiction, and was long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.[9] Her other works include The Child Finder, Sleeping Giants, and The Butterfly Girl. She has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Oregonian and the Philadelphia Inquirer.[10]
Denfeld, who lives in Portland, Oregon,[11] is a foster mother to three children, all who came from traumatized childhoods, adopting each child.[12] In 2017, she won both The New York Times Hero of the Year Award and the Breaking the Silence Award[13] for using her fictional works to highlight social inequity, especially impacting children.[14]
Selected published works
[edit]- The Enchanted (New York and London: HarperCollins; 2014). ISBN 978-0-297-87051-7.
- The Child Finder (New York and London: HarperCollins; 2017). ISBN 978-0-062-65906-4.
- Trouver l'enfant (in French); translated by Pierre Bondil.
- The Butterfly Girl (New York: HarperCollins; London: Hachette; 2019). ISBN 978-1-474-60763-6.
- La Fille aux papillons (in French); translated by Pierre Bondil.
- Sleeping Giants (New York: HarperCollins; 2025). ISBN 978-0-063-01474-9.
References
[edit]- 1 2 Gardner, Fran (May 8, 2024). "Rene Denfeld's new novel, 'Sleeping Giants,' is the best kind of story". Oregon ArtsWatch. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
She is 56.
- ↑ Denfeld, Rene. "Radical Acts of Imagination: An Interview with Rene Denfeld". fictionwritersreview.com (Interview). Retrieved March 28, 2019.
- ↑ Denfeld, Rene. "On "The Child Finder": An Interview with Rene Denfeld". sites.lsa.umich.edu (Interview). Retrieved March 28, 2019.
- ↑ Haupt, Jennifer. "Interview with Rene Denfeld, Author of "The Child Finder" | Psychology Today Australia". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
- ↑ Ratcliffe, Jane (November 18, 2019). "Rene Denfeld: What Happens After the Trauma". Guernica. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ↑ Ratcliffe, Jane (March 28, 2024). "Addressing Harm, Helping Others, and Embracing Hope: A Conversation With Rene Denfeld". Substack: Jane Ratcliffe. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ↑ Messitt, Maggie (2015). "Waiting and Wading through Story". Creative Nonfiction (56). Creative Nonfiction Foundation: 12. ISSN 1070-0714.
- ↑ "American Library Association Longlist 2015 - Fiction". ala.org. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- ↑ "Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Longlist 2015". www.booklistonline.com. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- ↑ Moreno, Julia (October 14, 2015). "Death row investigator speaks on mass incarceration". The Observer. Ellensburg: Central Washington University. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
- ↑ Wolfe, Bill (March 28, 2024). "Rene Denfeld: Writing the Truth About Criminals". Read Her Like a Book. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ↑ Denfeld, Rene (May 2018). "A Conversation with Rene Denfeld". Literary Mama (Interview). Interviewed by Alison Lee. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
- ↑ "Rene Denfeld". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
- ↑ Dunn, Samantha (April 18, 2024). "'Sleeping Giants' novelist Rene Denfeld explores the harm done in the name of helping". Orange County Register. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
