John Edgar Wideman
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John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction 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. Fi ...
twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus on the African-American experience. Raised in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, Wideman excelled as a student athlete at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
. In 1963, he became the second African American to win a
Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
to attend the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
. In addition to his work as a writer, Wideman has had a career in academia as a literature and creative writing professor at both public and
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
universities. In his writing, Wideman has explored the complexities of race, family, trauma, storytelling, and justice in the United States. His personal experience, including the incarceration of his brother, has played a significant role in his work. He is a professor emeritus at
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
and lives in New York City and France.


Early life and education

Wideman was born on June 14, 1941, in Washington, D.C., the oldest of five children of Edgar (1918–2001) and Bette (née French; 1921–2008) Wideman. Wideman traces his roots to the period of American slavery. On his mother's side, his great-great-great-grandmother was a slave from
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
who had children with her master's son. Together, they relocated to Pittsburgh either during or immediately after the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
. According to Wideman family lore, this ancestor first settled the area that eventually became the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homewood, despite the fact that a white lawyer and politician, William Wilkins, is credited with founding the community. On Wideman's father's side, his ancestors have been traced to rural
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, where records indicate there were both white and African-American Widemans, including one who owned slaves. Wideman's paternal grandfather moved to Pittsburgh as part of the Great Migration of the early 20th century, when many African Americans fled Southern states. Wideman's father, Edgar, graduated high school in Pittsburgh, where he was an avid basketball player. After marrying Wideman's mother, Bette, he moved with her to Washington, D.C., for a job in the
U.S. Government Printing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
. The couple moved back to Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood after Wideman was born in 1941. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Wideman's father enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, and on
Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
. After the War, he worked several jobs simultaneously, including as a waiter and sanitation worker, in order to support the family. As a result, the family was able to move to a predominantly white neighborhood, Shadyside, allowing Wideman to attend Pittsburgh's Peabody High School. Wideman's teachers had noted his intelligence from an early age, and he proved to be an outstanding student. In high school, he was a star
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player, president of the student body, and
valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) ...
of his class. However, Wideman was socially cautious, especially around white students. Interviewed for an article in 1963, one of his white classmates recalled Wideman telling her that "he wouldn't want to be seen on the street alone with a white girl" and that "when class breaks came, he would seldom walk to the next class with the white students".


Collegiate career

Wideman attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he was offered a Benjamin Franklin Scholarship for academic merit and was one of a small number of African Americans to enroll in 1959. In his memoir, ''Brothers and Keepers'', he described a heated freshman-year encounter with a white student in the dorm room of an African-American friend: the white student claimed to know more about
blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afric ...
than Wideman did, and his friend refused to offer support. According to Wideman, the encounter left him feeling that he had "no place to hide", and he was in an environment "that continually set me against them and against myself". Feeling alienated, he decided to quit college, but was stopped by his basketball coach at a bus station, where Wideman was about to board a bus back to Pittsburgh. Despite his trepidation about college, Wideman persevered. Addressing his brother in ''Brothers and Keepers'', he summarized his motivation:
I was running away from Pittsburgh, from poverty, from blackness. To get ahead, to make something of myself, college had seemed a logical, necessary step; my exile, my flight from home began with good grades, with good English, with setting myself apart long before I'd earned a scholarship and a train ticket over the mountains to Philadelphia…if I ever had any hesitations or reconsiderations about the path I'd chosen, youall were back home in the ghetto to remind me how lucky I was.
Once again, Wideman excelled academically and in athletics, becoming a star basketball player. By his senior year, he was captain of the basketball team, which he led in scoring, and was named to the "All Ivy League" team. While his team lost the Ivy League championship to
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
his senior year, they won the "Big 5" tournament, which has traditionally determined the best college basketball team in Philadelphia, pitting Penn against Villanova, Saint Joseph's, La Salle, and
Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
universities. For his academic achievements, which included winning campus-wide awards for both creative and scholarly writing, Wideman was inducted into the
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
national honor society. In 1963, before graduating with a bachelor's degree in English, Wideman was named a
Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, becoming the second African American to win the prestigious award from the University of Oxford. The achievement brought him national attention: he was profiled in '' LOOK Magazine'' that spring, in an article entitled, "The Astonishing John Wideman". It described Wideman as having been "showered with so many academic and athletic honors, awards and 'firsts' that he is unable to enumerate them. He sometimes forgets that he won a prize that another student would consider the high point of a college career". In the fall of 1963, Wideman moved to England to begin his studies at Oxford, where he pursued a thesis on 18th-century British fiction. He also continued to play basketball and was captain of the Oxford University men's basketball team, where one of his teammates was fellow Rhodes Scholar, and future NBA All-Star and United States Senator,
Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...
. The two had played against each other as undergraduates, when Bradley was at Princeton. At Oxford, their team won the 1965 B.U.S.F. National Championship and the 1966 A.B.B.A. National Championship. In 1965, Wideman married Judith Goldman, a white Jewish woman from
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
whom he began dating when both were undergraduates at Penn. The following year, Wideman received a BPhil degree from Oxford and returned to the U.S. He spent the 1966–67 academic year at the
Iowa Writers Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative ...
, where he studied under
Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...
and
José Donoso José Manuel Donoso Yáñez (5 October 1924 – 7 December 1996), known as José Donoso, was a Chilean writer, journalist and professor. He lived most of his life in Chile, although he spent many years in self-imposed exile in Mexico, the United ...
.


Writing and teaching career


Philadelphia and early novels

In 1967, Wideman accepted a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania. That summer, his first novel, ''A Glance Away'', was published. Wideman's editor,
Hiram Haydn Hiram Collins Haydn (November 3, 1907 – December 2, 1973)The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' described Wideman as "a novelist of high seriousness and depth" who had written "a powerfully inventive" debut. Responding to student demand, Wideman offered Penn's first classes in African-American literature in 1968. In the same year, his first son, Daniel, was born. Wideman also became an assistant coach for the varsity men's basketball team for which he had played as a student. In 1970, Wideman's second son, Jacob, was born. In the same year, his second novel, ''Hurry Home'', was published. A reviewer for ''The New York Times'' admired the novel's "dazzling display" of "
Joycean A text is deemed Joycean when it is reminiscent of the writings of James Joyce, particularly '' Ulysses'' or ''Finnegans Wake''. Joycean fiction exhibits a high degree of verbal play, usually within the framework of stream of consciousness. Works ...
" prose and Wideman's "formidable command of the techniques of fiction". Wideman's initial courses in African-American literature grew into a program in African American Studies, which Wideman helped to establish. From 1971 to 1973, he served as director of the program. In 1972, he stepped down as an assistant basketball coach. In 1973, Wideman's third novel, ''The Lynchers'', was published. Examining violent strains of
black nationalist Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves aro ...
ideology that had emerged during the 1960s, the novel depicts African-American characters who plan to lynch a white police officer. Writing in ''The'' ''New York Times'',
Anatole Broyard Anatole Paul Broyard (July 16, 1920 – October 11, 1990) was an American writer, literary critic, and editor who wrote for ''The New York Times''. In addition to his many reviews and columns, he published short stories, essays, and two books dur ...
claimed that Wideman "can make an ordinary scene sing the blues like nobody's business", although he found the novel to be flawed. In 1974, Wideman was promoted to a full professorship of English at Penn, and he received a grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
to pursue research in African-American literature. However, he had already begun to look for a reprieve from his duties at the institution, as well as life in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, in order to focus on his writing and raising a family. Having previously visited the
University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
, he accepted an offer to join its faculty.


Wyoming, brother's murder conviction, literary success

Wideman joined the faculty of the University of Wyoming in 1975. That same year, Wideman's daughter, Jamila, was born. The circumstances of her birth were traumatic, as a complication caused Wideman's wife, Judith, to be transported by ambulance from Laramie, Wyoming, to
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado, where Jamila was born two months premature. After the family returned to Laramie, Wideman learned that his youngest brother, Robert, was a fugitive. Ten years younger than Wideman, Robert had grown up in Homewood. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the neighborhood was in a state of decline—it has frequently been described as a
ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished ...
. Robert began to use drugs, a habit which he supported via petty crime. In November 1975, along with two accomplices, he participated in a robbery scheme that went awry when the intended victim, a
fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length. ...
named Nicola Morena, fled. One of Robert's accomplices shot Morena as he ran. A short time later, a passerby encountered the wounded man and called for an ambulance. Morena was taken to the nearest hospital, which did not have the surgeon necessary to treat his wound, and after a period of waiting, he was transported to another hospital, where he died. The victim's family later filed a
lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...
against the city of Pittsburgh, the hospitals and doctors involved, and the ambulance drivers, claiming
negligence Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as ...
. That suit was not successful, although the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Ju ...
acknowledged that a delay in Morena's treatment was "a contributing factor in causing his death". The family ultimately settled a malpractice lawsuit against the hospital system. Robert and his accomplices fled Pittsburgh and arrived in Laramie, where Wideman let them spend a night in his house, an act he has attributed to naïveté. Robert and his accomplices then drove to Colorado, where they were apprehended. Afterward, police in Wyoming accused Wideman of aiding a fugitive, but no charges were filed. According to Pennsylvania law, because the attempted armed robbery of Morena resulted in a
homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
, the charge against the shooter was second-degree murder, and because Robert was an accomplice, he faced the same charge as the shooter. At trial, Robert was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
. All of his appeals failed. Wideman incorporated his brother's experience into his work. After an eight-year publication hiatus, he published two books simultaneously: a story collection, ''Damballah'', and a novel, ''Hiding Place'', both of which appeared in 1981 and allude to the events that resulted in Robert's imprisonment. He followed these books with another novel, ''Sent for You Yesterday'', in 1983. Because these books share characters and a setting in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homewood, they are frequently referred to as the "Homewood trilogy". The trilogy was celebrated upon publication, inspiring a claim in ''The New York Times'' that Wideman was "one of America's premier writers of fiction". For many critics and scholars, the trilogy represents Wideman's artistic breakthrough, with some even considering it his greatest literary achievement. Surveying Wideman's career in ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' in 2016, the critic Jesse McCarthy claimed that the trilogy shows Wideman "achieving a distinctive voice that is more confident and vernacular than in his early work". Some of the stories in ''Damballah'' have been widely anthologized. In 1984, Wideman followed the successful Homewood trilogy with what has been called his most popular book, ''Brothers and Keepers''. Wideman's first memoir delves into his brother Robert's story. Stylistically, the book is distinctive for its use of multiple voices, alternating between Wideman and his brother. It is also notable for its exploration of the realities of the American criminal justice system and life in prison, particularly for African Americans.
Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is '' M ...
, reviewing the book in ''The'' ''New York Times'', called it "a rare triumph". Writing in ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' in 1997,
Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...
claimed that it belongs among the "masterpieces of American memoir".


Massachusetts, son's murder conviction, prolific period

In 1986, Wideman joined the faculty of the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
, where the prominent author
James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; ...
was a visiting member of the faculty. Wideman taught in the MFA Program for Poets and Writers. In the same year, Wideman's son, Jacob, who was sixteen years old, stabbed another teenager to death during a youth camping trip in
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. He then fled the state. At his parents' urging, he surrendered to law enforcement, and after being released into parental custody, underwent psychiatric evaluation in Massachusetts. During his stay in a psychiatric facility, he called police in Arizona and confessed his guilt. However, before a judge, he pleaded not guilty, and his case was scheduled for trial. A
plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or ''nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendant ...
was then struck, in which Jacob pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison, with a possibility of parole after 25 years. Wideman then entered what is, to date, the most prolific period of his career. A novel written before his son Jacob's crime, entitled ''Reuben'', appeared in 1987. This was followed by a collection of stories, entitled ''Fever'' (1989). The following year saw the publication of the novel ''Philadelphia Fire'', which garnered both critical acclaim and literary awards. Inspired by the police's 1985 bombing of the Philadelphia headquarters of the black liberation group known as
MOVE Move may refer to: People * Daniil Move (born 1985), a Russian auto racing driver Brands and enterprises * Move (company), an online real estate company * Move (electronics store), a defunct Australian electronics retailer * Daihatsu Move Go ...
—an act that resulted in the death of five children and the loss of two city blocks—the "intense, poetic narrative" centers on one man's attempt to find, and write about, a child rumored to have survived the tragedy. ''Philadelphia Fire'' was followed by a story collection, ''The Stories of John Edgar Wideman'' (later re-issued as ''All Stories Are True'') in 1992; a memoir, ''Fatheralong: A Meditation on Fathers and Sons, Race and Society'' (1994), and two more novels, ''The Cattle Killing'' (1996) and ''Two Cities'' (1998). Notably, while Wideman wrote about his son's story in some of these books (for example, in ''Philadelphia Fire'' and in ''Fatheralong'') he has not written a memoir about it. In interviews, he has frequently declined to discuss the case. During this period, Wideman was in demand as "one of America's most distinguished writers". He edited anthologies, provided introductions for books, and appeared in various media, including television, to comment on societal issues, particularly those affecting African Americans. Additionally, his daughter, Jamila, became a star basketball player and, in 1997, the third overall pick in the inaugural draft of the
Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nati ...
, bringing further media attention, including a cover story in ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' magazine. In 2000, Wideman and his wife, Judith, divorced. In 2001, the University of Massachusetts appointed Wideman a Distinguished Professor; it was the same year that another memoir, ''Hoop Roots'', appeared, focusing on Wideman's experience as a player and fan of basketball. A review in ''Bookpage'' hailed it as "one of the best books ever written about the sport". It was followed by a nonfiction book on
Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
entitled ''The Island: Martinique'' (2003).


Brown and latest work

In 2004, Wideman was appointed Asa Messer Professor and Professor of Africana Studies and Literary Arts at Brown University. In the same year, he married French journalist Catherine Nedonchelle. The following year, his story collection, ''God's Gym'', was published. This was followed by his first novel in a decade, and tenth overall, ''Fanon'', which appeared in 2008. In 2010, a collection of
flash fiction Flash fiction is a fictional work of extreme brevity that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the six-word story; the 280-character story (also known as "twitterature"); ...
, entitled ''Briefs'', was published, inspiring a theatrical adaptation that premiered in Los Angeles in 2018. In 2014, after a decade at Brown University, and nearly 50 years in academia, Wideman became an
emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
professor. He has since published a hybrid work of fiction and nonfiction that explores the life of
Louis Till Louis Till (February 7, 1922 – July 2, 1945) was an African American GI during World War II. After enlisting in the United States Army following trial for domestic violence against his estranged wife Mamie Till, which he chose over jail time, ...
, the father of
Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African Americans, African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and Lynching in the United States, lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a whi ...
, entitled ''Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File'' (2016). He published a collection of stories, ''American Histories'', in 2018. In 2021, a selection of his short fiction, produced over four decades, was published as ''You Made Me Love You: Selected Stories, 1981-2018''. ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' proclaimed the collection "a stunning showcase" that confirms Wideman's place in American literature.


Family

Wideman was married to Judith Ann Goldman, an attorney, from 1965 until their divorce in 2000. The couple had three children together: Daniel Wideman is a poet, playwright, and essayist, as well as a business executive; Jacob Wideman was convicted of a murder committed while he was a minor and sentenced to life in prison in Arizona, and
Jamila Wideman Jamila Wideman (born October 16, 1975) is an American lawyer, activist, and former professional basketball player. She is the daughter of author John Edgar Wideman. Early life Wideman was born on October 16, 1975. Her father, John Edgar Wide ...
is a lawyer and executive at the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
, having played professional basketball in the
Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nati ...
and the Israeli League. In 2004, Wideman married French journalist Catherine Nedonchelle. He resides in France and on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Wideman's brother, Robert, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in a 1975 murder. After more than 40 years in prison, his sentence was commuted and he was released on July 2, 2019.


Work

Wideman's work has been, and continues to be, the focus of academic study. The John Edgar Wideman Society was formed to promote scholarship and awareness of his work. Affiliated with the
American Literature Association The American Literature Association (ALA) is "a coalition of societies devoted to the study of American authors". It has some 110 affiliated societies, mostly concerned with the work of a particular author (e.g. the Emily Dickinson International ...
, it held its first international conference in 2003. Wideman's papers, including manuscripts, correspondence, and other materials, are housed at the
Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
.


Style

Wideman's writing is known for its complexity, with critics describing it as cerebral and experimental. It is also known for combining traditional English diction with
African-American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, ), also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics (a colloquial, controversial term), is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urb ...
. In some works, Wideman's writing relies on sentence fragments, whereas elsewhere, he has written a single sentence that spans several pages. He has sometimes used the stream-of-consciousness technique and sudden, unannounced shifts in perspective. In much of his writing, Wideman eschews punctuation such as question marks or quotation marks, relying instead on context to identify speakers or discern questions from statements. In some cases, Wideman mixes nonfiction and fiction in the same work. Among scholars, there has been discussion as to whether Wideman is a
modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
or a
postmodernist Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of modern ...
writer. The scholar D. Quentin Miller, however, argues that Wideman's works "resist categorization".


Themes

While Wideman's work is thematically diverse, some common themes emerge. Most prominently, Wideman is known for his exploration of race, a subject that factors in all of his books. His fiction depicts African-American characters dealing with the challenges and alienation of life in a predominantly white society. His work also depicts the ways that race and racism are constructed by, and manifested in, society—from language to interpersonal relationships to interactions with the state. Another chief concern of Wideman's writing is family, particularly as the key unit of community and cultural survival. Yet family, for Wideman, is inherently contentious: his writing investigates the ways that family is necessary for protection and individual development, while at the same time proving to be something one needs to be protected from in order to find one's true self. This exploration is explicit in ''Brothers and Keepers'', in which Wideman and his brother navigate the complexities of their familial relationship. Another of Wideman's frequent themes is storytelling. Of particular importance is the notion that "all stories are true", which Wideman has used in multiple works, including as the title for one of his story collections. The scholar Heather Russell explains that, in focusing on this concept, Wideman's writing "reflects African American traditions of storytelling within which myth, history, parable, parody, folklore, fact, and fiction exist in synergy. Storytelling functions as a bridge between both past, present, and future and between history, memory, and the imagination". Frequently in Wideman's work, storytelling is focused on trauma—expressing it, escaping it, or healing from it. Trauma, in Wideman's work, can exist on the level of the individual and for all of society. The scholar Tracie Church Guzzio summarizes Wideman's approach to trauma when she claims that his writing "illustrates that the trauma suffered by African Americans in the period of slavery in America is re-lived and re-experienced in the continuing racism confronting African Americans in their daily lives as well as in the images projected by history, literature, and popular culture".


Influences

In interviews, Wideman has typically declined to identify his influences. However, scholars and critics have pointed to figures that, judging from Wideman's work and interviews, appear to be literary or intellectual influences. These include
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...
(to whom Wideman has dedicated work),
Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have b ...
(inspiration for Wideman's novel, ''Fanon''),
Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel ''Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote '' Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collec ...
, James Baldwin, and, especially in his early work, the modernist writers
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...
, T.S. Eliot, and
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...
.


Selected bibliography


Novels

* ''A Glance Away'' ( Harcourt, 1967) * ''Hurry Home'' (Harcourt, 1970) * ''The Lynchers'' (Harcourt, 1973) * '' Hiding Place'' (
Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles rea ...
, 1981) * ''
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. Th ...
'' (Avon Books, 1983) * ''
Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugu ...
'' ( Henry Holt, 1987) * ''Philadelphia Fire'' (Henry Holt, 1990) * ''The Cattle Killing'' (
Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
, 1996) * '' Two Cities'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1998) * ''Fanon'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2008)


Omnibus editions

* ''The Homewood Trilogy'' (Avon Books, 1985) * ''The Homewood Books'' (
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 ...
, 1992) * ''Identities: Three Early Novels by John Edgar Wideman'' (Henry Holt, 1994)


Story collections

* ''Damballah'' (Avon Books, 1981) * ''Fever'' (Henry Holt, 1989) * ''The Stories of John Edgar Wideman'' (
Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved 6/20/2007, from EBSCO Host Business Source ...
, 1992; published as ''All Stories Are True'',
Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...
, 1993) * ''God's Gym'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2005) * ''Briefs'' (
Lulu Press Lulu Press, Inc., doing business under trade name Lulu, is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. By 2014, it had issued approximately two million titles. The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. ...
, 2010) * ''American Histories'' (Scribner, 2018) * ''You Made Me Love You: Selected Stories, 1981-2018'' (Scribner, 2021) * ''Look for Me and I'll Be Gone'' (Scribner, 2021)


Memoirs and other

* ''
Brothers and Keepers ''Brothers and Keepers'' is a memoir written by John Edgar Wideman. It was published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1984. Plot summary Two brothers, Afro-Americans, John and Robert, grow up together in the same neighborhood in Homewood. But t ...
'' (Henry Holt, 1984) * ''Fatheralong: A Meditation on Fathers and Sons, Race and Society'' (Pantheon, 1994) * ''Hoop Roots: Basketball, Race, and Love'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) * (Editor) ''My Soul Has Grown Deep: Classics of Early African-American Literature'' (
Running Press Running Press is an American publishing company and member of the Perseus Books Group. The publisher's offices are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with many of the corporate functions taking place in Perseus' New York City headquarters. It ...
, 2001) * (Editor) ''20: The Best of the
Drue Heinz Literature Prize The Drue Heinz Literature Prize is a major American literary award for short fiction in the English language. This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States was initiated in 1981 by Drue Heinz and de ...
'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001) * ''The Island: Martinique'' (National Geographic Directions, 2003) * ''Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File'' (Scribner, 2016)


Honors


Athletic honors

* Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame, inducted 1974 * University of Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame, inducted 1998


Honors for body of work

In 1993, the
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and ...
, in awarding him a fellowship, noted that Wideman "has contributed to a new humanist perspective in American literature, distilling personality and history, crime and mysticism, art and the exigencies of material life into his work." Honors bestowed for his entire body of work include: *Honorary Doctorate,
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
(1986) * John Dos Passos Prize for Literature (1986) * Lannan Literary Award in Fiction (1991) *Honorary Doctorate,
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
(1991) *
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
, Elected Member (1992) *
St. Botolph Club The St. Botolph Club is a private social club in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1880 by a group including many artists. Its name is derived from the English saint Botwulf of Thorney. Among the club's other activities in its quarters at 2 Newb ...
Foundation Distinguished Artist Award (1992) * MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1993) *Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award (1998) *
Rea Award for the Short Story The Rea Award for the Short Story is an annual award given to a living American or Canadian author chosen for unusually significant contributions to short story fiction. The Award The Rea Award is named after Michael M. Rea, who was engaged in t ...
(1998) *Honorary Doctorate,
Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanth ...
(1998) *Honorary Doctorate,
University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...
(1998) *Honorary Doctorate, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York (1999) *New England Book Award for Literary Excellence (2001) *Honorary Doctorate, Columbia College Chicago (2003) * Langston Hughes Medal (2004) *
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, Elected Member (2005) *Katherine Anne Porter Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2008) *Honorary Doctorate,
State University of New York at New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...
(2010) *
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...
Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) *
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
, Elected Member (2016) *Honorary Doctorate,
Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...
(2017) *Lannan Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement (2018) *Stephen E. Henderson Award for Outstanding Achievement (2019) * PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story (2019)
F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature
(2021)


Honors for individual works

* American Library Association Notable Books List for ''Sent for You Yesterday'' (1984) *PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for ''Sent for You Yesterday'' (1984) *American Library Association Notable Books List for ''Brothers and Keepers'' (1985) *
National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
for "Doc's Story", originally published in ''Esquire'' (1987) *PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for ''Philadelphia Fire'' (1991) *
American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
for ''Philadelphia Fire'' (1991) *
James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction The Society of American Historians Prize for Historical Fiction, formerly known as the James Fenimore Cooper Prize, is a biennial award given for the best Historical American fiction by the Society of American Historians. It is awarded in the odd ...
for ''The Cattle Killing'' (1997) *
O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...
for "Weight", originally published in ''
Callaloo Callaloo (many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux or callalloo; ) is a popular Caribbean vegetable dish. There are many variants across the Caribbean, depending on the availability of local vegetables. The main in ...
'' (2000) *O. Henry Award for "Microstories", originally published in ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'' (2010) *
Prix Femina Étranger Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...
for ''Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File'' (2017) *
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award The PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award is for U.S. multicultural writers, to "promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the media as to the nature of multicultural work. ...
for ''Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File'' (2017) * O. Henry Award for "Maps and Ledgers", originally published in ''Harper's Magazine'' (2019) *''The Wall Street Journal'' "10 Best Books of 2021" for ''Look for Me and I'll Be Gone'' (2021) Wideman's winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991 marked the first time a writer had won that prize twice, a feat that has since been accomplished by three other writers:
Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...
,
E. L. Doctorow Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (January 6, 1931 – July 21, 2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote twelve novels, three volumes of short fiction and a stage drama. They included ...
, and
Ha Jin Jin Xuefei (; born February 21, 1956) is a Chinese-American poet and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin (). ''Ha'' comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement. Early life Ha Jin was born in L ...
. In addition, Wideman's memoir, ''Brothers and Keepers'', and his book, ''Writing to Save a Life'', were both finalists for the
National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...
. Wideman's short works have been widely anthologized, including in the ''Norton Anthology of African American Literature'', the ''Oxford Book of American Short Stories'', and ''The Heath Anthology of American Literature,'' among others''.'' Wideman has been a visiting fellow, professor, or speaker at numerous institutions. His work has been translated into many languages.


Notes


References


Further reading

*Auger, Philip, ''Native Sons in No Man's Land: Rewriting Afro-American Manhood in the Novels of Baldwin, Walker, Wideman, and Gaines'', New York: Garland Publishing, 2000. *Byerman, Keith E., ''John Edgar Wideman: A Study of the Short Fiction'', New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998. *Byerman, Keith E., ''The Life and Work of John Edgar Wideman'', Santa Barbara: Praeger Books, 2013. *Casmier, Stephen, ''African American Literature of the Twenty-First Century and the Black Arts: The Case of John Edgar Wideman'', Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021. *Church Guzzio, Tracie, ''All Stories are True: History, Myth, and Trauma in the Work of John Edgar Wideman'', Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2011. *Coleman, James W., ''Blackness and Modernism: The Literary Career of John Edgar Wideman'', Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1989. *Coleman, James W., ''Writing Blackness: John Edgar Wideman's Art and Experimentation'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010. *D'Amore, Jonathan, ''American Authorship and Autobiographical Narrative: Mailer, Wideman, Eggers'', New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. *Dubey, Madhu, ''Signs and Cities: Black Literary Postmodernism'', Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2003. *Eschborn, Ulrich, ''Stories of Survival: John Edgar Wideman's Representations of History'', Trier: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 2011. *Feith, Michel, ''John Edgar Wideman and Modernity: A Critical Dialogue'', Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2019. *Mbalia, Doreatha Drummond, ''John Edgar Wideman: Reclaiming the African Personality'', Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press; and London: Associated University Presses, 1995. *Miller, D. Quentin, ''Understanding John Edgar Wideman'', Columbia: The University of South Carolina Press, 2018. *Murray, Rolland, ''Our Living Manhood: Literature, Black Power, and Masculine Ideology'', Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. *Rowell, Charles Henry (editor), ''Callaloo Special Issue: John Edgar Wideman: The European Response,'' Volume 22, Number 3, Summer 1999, The Johns Hopkins University Press. *TuSmith, Bonnie (editor), ''Conversations with John Edgar Wideman'', Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998. *TuSmith, Bonnie, and Keith E. Byerman (editors), ''Critical Essays on John Edgar Wideman'', Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006.


External links


The John Edgar Wideman Experience
Online resources from Duquesne University
Black Writers of PA: John Edgar Wideman
Bibliographic resource from Pennsylvania State University
John Edgar Wideman Papers
Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
John Edgar Wideman Literary Society
Scholarly society dedicated to Wideman's work {{DEFAULTSORT:Wideman, John Edgar 1941 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists African-American academics African-American non-fiction writers African-American novelists African-American short story writers Black studies scholars Alumni of New College, Oxford American Book Award winners American book editors American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male short story writers American memoirists American Rhodes Scholars American short story writers Brown University faculty Harper's Magazine people Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni James Fenimore Cooper Prize winners MacArthur Fellows Members of the American Philosophical Society Novelists from Massachusetts Novelists from Pennsylvania Novelists from Rhode Island Novelists from Washington, D.C. O. Henry Award winners PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners Prix Femina Étranger winners University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty Writers from Pittsburgh Writers from Providence, Rhode Island Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters