Rene Steinke

Rene Steinke is an American novelist. She is the author of three novels: The Fires, Holy Skirts, and Friendswood. Holy Skirts, a novel based on the life of the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, was a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award. Her essays and articles have appeared in The [New York Times], Vogue, O: the Oprah Magazine, Bookforum, and elsewhere.
Steinke holds a BA from Valparaiso University, an MFA from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She is the Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Fairleigh [Dickinson University]. Until 2007, Steinke was Editor in Chief of The Literary Review, where she now holds the position Editor-at-Large. Her cousin Darcey Steinke is also an author. Rene Steinke lives in Brooklyn.
Steinke received a fellowship at the John [Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation] for Friendswood in 2016.