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Faulkner Award
The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Finalists read from their works at the presentation ceremony in the Great Hall of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. The organization claims it to be "the largest peer-juried award in the country." The award was first given in 1981. The PEN/Faulkner Foundation is an outgrowth of William Faulkner's use of his 1949 Nobel Prize winnings to create the William Faulkner Foundation; among the charitable goals of the foundation was "to establish a fund to support and encourage new fiction writers." The foundation's first award for a "notable debut novel, first novel," called the William Faulkner Foundation Award, was granted to John Knowles's ''A Separate Peace'' in 1961. The foundation was dissolved after 1970. Mary Lee Settle wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly marketed and so the audience expects the work to deviate in some ways from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood to not fully adhere to the real world, the themes and conte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PEN International
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous International PEN centers in over 100 countries. Other goals included: to emphasise the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views. History The first PEN Club was founded at the Florence Restaurant in London on October 5, 1921, by Catherine Amy Dawson Scott, with John Galsworthy as its first president. Its first members included Joseph Conrad, Elizabeth Craig, George Bernard Shaw, and H. G. Wells. PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists, Novelists", but now stands for "Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists", and includes writers of any form of literatur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soldiers In Hiding (novel)
''Soldiers in Hiding'' is the first novel by Richard Wiley. It received the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Amazon It begins in Tokyo in 1941, when Teddy Maki and Jimmy Yamamoto, two young Japanese-American jazz musicians, are stranded in Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, drafted into the Japanese army and sent to the Philippines, the scene of bloody conflict with guerrillas and American troops. Rather than act as true soldiers, the two young men attempt to disengage themselves from the savagery of a war in which they are unable to choose sides. But such innocence is impossible to maintain. Thirty years later, Teddy Maki, by then a star of Japanese television, is still haunted by Jimmy's death and his own failure to disobey the order of his commanding officer to shoot an American prisoner. The guilt that poisons his relationship with his wife and son and with the country in which he has chosen to live as a perpetual outsider speaks to the moral issues raised by all war ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lonesome Dove
''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series, but the third installment in the series chronologically. The story revolves around the relationships between several retired Texas Rangers and their adventures driving a cattle herd from Texas to Montana. Set in the closing years of the Old West, the novel explores themes of old age, death, unrequited love, and friendship. The novel was a bestseller and won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1989, it was adapted as a TV miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, which won both critical and popular acclaim. McMurtry went on to write a sequel, '' Streets of Laredo'' (1993), and two prequels, ''Dead Man's Walk'' (1995) and ''Comanche Moon'' (1997), all of which were also adapted as TV series. Origins Following the success of ''The Last Picture Show'' in 1971, Peter Bogdanovich was keen to collaborate with McMurtry on a We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carpenter's Gothic
''Carpenter's Gothic'' is the title of the third novel by William Gaddis, published in 1985 by Viking. The title connotes a "Gothic" tale of haunted isolation, in a milieu stripped of all pretensions. Gaddis's second-shortest novel, ''Carpenter's Gothic'' relates the words and occasional actions, in one house, of an ex-soldier, confederate apologist, and pathological liar; his neglected and ineffectual wife; and a visitor with a mysterious past who resembles in many ways Gaddis himself. The book is notable mainly for its strict fugue-like nature, as each character pursues his own themes in conversation and in action, often without reference to anything said or done by the others. __NOTOC__ Reception and criticism Writing for the ''Los Angeles Review of Books'', Greg Gerke referred to the book as " ittingperfectly with the other three novels as one long scroll of words." Gerke refers to the other Gaddis books ''The Recognitions'', ''J R'', and ''A Frolic of His Own''. Cynthia Oz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
At The Bottom Of The River
''At the Bottom of the River'' is a collection of short stories by Caribbean novelist Jamaica Kincaid. Published in 1983, it was her first short story collection. The collection consists of ten inter-connected short stories, seven of which were previously published in ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Paris Review'' between 1978 and 1982. Kincaid was awarded the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Morton Dauwen Zabel Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1983 for the collection. Plot summary The works in ''At the Bottom of the River'' are usually denoted as prose poems by critics. “Girl (short story), Girl,” is the first story in the collection. It was originally released on June 26, 1978, in ''The New Yorker'' and examines the struggles of growing up young and female on a post-colonial poor Caribbean island. “Girl” is a series of instructions, warnings and advice given by a mother to her daughter on how to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ironweed (novel)
''Ironweed'' is a 1983 novel by William Kennedy. It received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is the third book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle. It is included in the Western Canon of the critic Harold Bloom. Plot summary ''Ironweed'' is set during the Great Depression and tells the story of Francis Phelan, a bum originally from Albany, New York, who left his family after accidentally killing his infant son. The novel focuses on Francis's return (after being gone twenty-two years) to Albany over the triduum of All Hallows Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day; moreover, a surreal element is added to the narrative as Phelan sees and tries to interact with dead people from his troubled past. The novel features characters that are present in some of Kennedy's other Albany Cycle books. Adaptations Kennedy wrote the screenplay for the 1987 film version directed by Héctor Babenco and starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Major portions of the film were shot on location in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sent For You Yesterday
''Sent for You Yesterday'' is a novel by the American writer John Edgar Wideman, first published in 1983 (in New York by Avon Books, and subsequently in London by Allison and Busby, 1984), set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the 1970s. The novel tells the story of Albert Wilkes, who, after seven years on the run, returns to Homewood, an African-American neighborhood of the East End. ''Sent for You Yesterday'' is the third volume of what some critics call "The Homewood Trilogy". The other books are ''Damballah'' and '' Hiding Place'', both published in 1981. In 1992 the University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ... published the three in one volume under the title ''The Homewood Books''. In its preface Wideman admits discomfort with the term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant
''Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant'' is a 1982 novel by Anne Tyler, set in Baltimore, Maryland. It is Tyler's ninth novel. In 1983 it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Tyler considers it her best work. The book follows the lives of three siblings: Cody, Ezra, and Jenny, and explores their experiences and recollections of growing up with their mother, Pearl, after the family is deserted by their father, Beck. The novel ends with Pearl's funeral, and a surprise occurrence. The novel examines how siblings may share the same events yet experience them differently; e.g. Cody remembers his childhood as a harsh time. He blames himself for his father abandoning him and considers himself left to the mercy of an angry mother who favors Ezra. Meanwhile, Ezra remembers his childhood fondly and creates a nostalgic family-themed restaurant. Plot Pearl Tull is a rigid perfectionist. She has three children with her husband, traveling s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shiloh And Other Stories
''Shiloh and Other Stories'' is a 1982 collection of short stories written by American author Bobbie Ann Mason. The collection won the Ernest Hemingway Foundation award for fiction. The collection brought Mason her first critical acclaim. The short story alluded to in the collection's title, "Shiloh", revolves around a man named Leroy who lives in rural Kentucky and is forced to quit his job as a truck driver after an accident. The plot centers around his attempt to adjust to life after the accident, while at the same time facing problems with his marriage and attempting to cope with the urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ... of his neighborhood, which was once a community of farmers. The story ends with Leroy and his wife Norma Jean visiting the battlefi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seaview (novel)
''Seaview'' is a novel by Toby Olson. It received the 1983 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The book centers around a woman called Melinda who is dying of cancer and her husband, Allen who agrees to help out a drug dealer in return for medicine. He instead decides to make money by hustling players on the golf courses they pass while on their way to Cape God where Melinda was born. References 1982 American novels PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction-winning works New Directions Publishing books {{1980s-novel-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Housekeeping (novel)
''Housekeeping'' is a 1980 novel by Marilynne Robinson. The novel was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and awarded the PEN/Hemingway Award for best first novel. In 2003, ''Guardian Unlimited'' named ''Housekeeping'' one of the 100 greatest novels of all time, describing the book as "Haunting, poetic story, drowned in water and light, about three generations of women". ''Time'' magazine also included the novel in its ''Time'' 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. Plot Ruthie narrates the story of how she and her younger sister Lucille are raised by a succession of relatives in the fictional town of Fingerbone, Idaho (some details are similar to Robinson's hometown, Sandpoint, Idaho, particularly the presence of a major rail bridge and direct rail links to Spokane and Montana). Eventually their aunt Sylvie (who has been living as a ) comes to take care of them. At first the three are a close knit group, but as Lucille grows up she comes to dislike their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
