Annie Dillard: key obituary facts
Is Annie Dillard dead? Yes. Annie Dillard died on September 15, 2026, at age 81.
Cause of death: Annie Dillard's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Annie Dillard known for?
She was an American writer (born 1945).
More about Annie Dillard
Born: 30 April 1945.
Place of birth: Pittsburgh.
Gender: female.
Occupation: poet, novelist, writer, university teacher, essayist.
Nationality: United States.
Education: Hollins University, The Ellis School, Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Employer: Wesleyan University, Western Washington University.
Notable work: The Maytrees, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Teaching a Stone to Talk.
Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship, PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, National Humanities Medal, Western States Book Award, Bollingen Prize.
Also known as: Annie Doak.
Genres: Nonfiction, fiction, poetry.
Annie Dillard, the American writer whose work included Tickets for a Prayer Wheel, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and The Maytrees, died on September 15, 2026, aged 81.
Born Annie Doak in Pittsburgh on April 30, 1945, she became known for narrative prose that crossed fiction and nonfiction, along with poetry, essays, literary criticism, two novels and a memoir. Her 1974 book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
Dillard later spent 21 years teaching in Wesleyan University’s English department in Middletown, Connecticut, beginning in 1980. She was also recognized with honors including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay and the National Humanities Medal.