I was born in Germany and grew up in Colorado. Like many immigrant kids, I learned my English from primetime TV and the Saturday morning cartoons. My parents spoke to me in German, and -- to their dismay -- I started answering in English before the boxes were even unpacked. 

My forthcoming memoir Child of Earth and Starry Heaven (Wandering Aengus Press) is an account of my mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. It looks to mythology, science, history and literature to try to find beauty and meaning as her cognition declines.

My novel The Vanishing Sky (Bloomsbury, July 2020) received the Eyelands International Book Award. It was inspired by my family's experiences in World War II Germany. My collection of stories, Rise (Sarabande Books), received the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Literature. My fiction has appeared in the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and been performed at WordTheatre and on Public Radio's Selected Shorts.

I have degrees from Harvard, UC Berkeley and the Programs in Writing at the University of California, Irvine. I live in New England with my family.

Reach me at info [AT] lannettebinder [DOT] com

A Difficult Discovery Becomes Inspiration," Julia Ann Weekes, The Union Leader, Jan. 24, 2021

……

"WWII Novel Inspired by Family's History," Jennifer Mulson, The Gazette-Telegraph, Sept. 11, 2020

……

"Learning to Decipher My Father's Past in Nazi Germany," L. Annette Binder, literary hub, July 24, 2020

……

The New York Times Book Review Guide to Summer Reading, Alida Becker, May 21, 2020

Interview with Eileen MacDougall on Book Stew, Aug. 1, 2021.

Interview with Shelley Irwin on the Morning Show, WGVU, Feb. 17, 2021

Interviews with Vick Mickunas on the Book Nook, WYSO, July 12, 2021, and Dec. 27, 2020

Interview with David Wilk on Writers Cast, Oct. 2, 2020

Interview with Jessica Lawrence on Bookmarks, NCNPR,  Sept. 4, 2020

Interview with Francesca Rheannon on The Writer's Voice, July 2, 2020

Interview on Irish RTE Radio 1, June 17, 2020

Select Features

Select Interviews

Photo by Harvey Brotman