Julie Powell biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Julie Powell was born in Austin, Texas on April 20, 1973. She attended Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and dance/fiction writing. She later married Eric Powell, an editor at Archaeology magazine, and the couple settled in New York City.

'Julie & Julia'

Powell began her famous blog, "The Julie/Julia Project," in 2002, at the age of 29. At that time, Powell was working an unfulfilling job at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, fielding phone calls relating to the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at New York City's World Trade Center. Powell began her blog with the intention of channeling her energy into a more fulfilling venture. The blog chronicled Powell's attempt to prepare all of the dishes described in Julia Child's classic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in just one year.

Powell frequently invoked Julia Child's journey to her culinary career, as she personally searched for a more meaningful use of her talents. Despite the popularity of Powell's blog, Julia Child herself did not embrace Powell, describing her project as a stunt without culinary value. Of Powell, Child said, "I don't think she's a serious cook." Powell has said that her experience with the "Julie/Julia" blog led her to embrace her talents as a writer, rather than as a chef. And despite Child's opinion on the culinary value of Powell's work, Powell was recognized with an honorary degree from Le Cordon Bleu, the Parisian culinary school that Child attended.

Powell's blog developed a large following after appearing in an article in The New York Times. On the strength of her writing and her newfound popularity, the publishing group Little, Brown and Company offered Powell a contract to develop a book about her experience. Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen was published in 2005; the paperback was published under an alternate title, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.
 
Powell received further national attention when Nora Ephron adapted her story as a screenplay. Ephron also directed the resulting film, Julie & Julia. The screenplay is based on Powell's work, as well as Julia Child's autobiography, My Life in France. In the film, Powell and Child appear in parallel story lines, with Powell working through Child's book and finding her voice as an author, while Child, in 1950s Paris, attends Le Cordon Bleu and begins her culinary career.

Powell was not deeply involved in the film adaptation of her book.