Larry Alfred Woiwode (October 30, 1941April 28, 2022) was an American writer from

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, where he was the state's

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

from 1995 until his death. His work appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', '' Harpers'', '' Gentleman's Quarterly'', ''

The Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated John ...

'' and ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

''. He was the author of five

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s; two collections of short stories; a commentary titled "Acts"; a biography of the Gold Seal founder and entrepreneur,

Harold Schafer Harold Schafer (February 1, 1912 – December 2, 2001) was a North Dakota businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Gold Seal Company, the original maker of '' Mr. Bubble''. He also was a major benefactor in the tourist town of ...

, ''Aristocrat of the West''; a book of poetry, ''Even Tide''; and reviews and essays and essay-reviews that appeared in dozens of publications, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post Book World ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nat ...

''. He received North Dakota's highest honor, the

Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award The Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award is an award presented by the governor of the state of North Dakota. It is bestowed upon prominent North Dakotans. Recipients ''Note: date in parentheses indicates date of award'' * Lawrence Welk, enterta ...

, in 1992.

Work

Woiwode's first novel, ''What I'm Going to Do, I Think'', won acclaim and received the William Faulkner Foundation Award (1970) for the best first novel of 1969. He further received a

Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

(1971–1972), two awards from the

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 ...

- in 1980 the Arts and Letters Award and in 1995 the Award of Merit Medal, the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature (1990), the

Aga Khan Prize for Fiction The Aga Khan Prize for Fiction was awarded by the editors of ''The Paris Review'' for what they deem to be the best short story published in the magazine in a given year. The last prize was given in 2004. No applications were accepted. The winner ...

(1990), and a Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction (2002). ''Beyond the Bedroom Wall'' (1975) sold over 1,000,000 copies, and was a finalist for both the

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 ...

and 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".Carrington, North Dakota Carrington is a city in Foster County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Foster County. The population was 2,080 at the 2020 census. Carrington was founded in 1883. Carrington is home to Dakota Growers Pasta Company, Inc. H ...

, Woiwode attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

(Urbana-Champaign) for four and a half years, where he worked with John Frederick Nims and Charles Shattuck, and after serving as copywriter and voice-over and live talent for a CBS affiliate in the area he left to live in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

for five years. He returned to New York state after the death of John Gardner, and took Gardner's position as director of the Creative Writing Program at

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

; he was a tenured full professor there, besides directing the Creative Writing Program. He spent several years living and working on short stories and his third novel in the Chicago area before returning to North Dakota in 1978, where he lived twelve miles outside

Mott Mott is both an English surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname B *Basil Mott (1859–1938), British civil engineer *Bitsy Mott (1918–2001), American baseball player C * Charles James Mott (1880–1918), British bar ...

and raised registered quarterhorses. Besides his tenure at Binghamton, he served as Writer in Residence at the

University of Wisconsin, Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, and conducted summer sessions as a professor at Wheaton College, Chicago, and the C.S. Lewis Seminars at Cambridge; he also conducted seminars and workshops in fourteen states of the U.S., all of the Canadian provinces but British Columbia, and in England, Lithuania, and Scandinavia. His work has been translated into a dozen languages, and Johnathan Yardley of The Washington Post Book World named ''Beyond the Bedroom Wall'' one of the 20 best novels of the 20th Century. Woiwode published a dozen books in a variety of genres, six of which have been named notable books of the year by the ''New York Times Book Review''. Among his recent publications are two memoirs that were widely reviewed: ''What I Think I Did'' and ''A Step From Death''. Woiwode taught at the

University of Jamestown , mottoeng = Light and Truth , established = , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Christian , endowment = $45 million , staff = , faculty = , president = Polly Peterson , p ...

and in 2020 was appointed Writer in Residence at the

University of Mary The University of Mary (UMary or simply Mary) is a private, Benedictine university near Bismarck, North Dakota. It was established in 1959 as Mary College. The university is the largest degree-granting institution in western North Dakota. It ha ...

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...

, where he lectured and taught until his death. Woiwode died in Bismarck, North Dakota after a short illness on April 28, 2022, at age 80.

Bibliography

*''A Legacy of Passion: the Scheel Family Story'' (biography, 2022) *''The Dignity of Grace: A Life of Sister Thomas Welder'' (biography, 2021) *''Words for Readers and Writers'' (essays, 2013) *''The Invention of Lefse'' (for young readers, 2011) *''Words Made Fresh: Essays on Literature and Culture'' (essays, 2011) *''A Step from Death'' (memoir, 2008) *''What I Think I Did: A Season of Survival in Two Acts'' (memoir, 2000) *''Aristocrat of the West: The Story of Harold Schafer'' (nonfiction, 2000) *''Acts'' (a commentary on the book of Acts, 1993) *''Silent Passengers: Stories'' (stories, 1993) *''Indian Affairs'' (novel, 1992) *''Neumiller Stories'' (stories, 1989) *''Born Brothers'' (novel, 1988) *''Poppa John'' (novel, 1981) *''Even Tide'' (poems, 1977) *''Beyond the Bedroom Wall'' (novel, 1975) *''What I'm Going to Do, I Think'' (novel, 1969)

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woiwode, Larry 1941 births 2022 deaths People from Foster County, North Dakota Poets from North Dakota University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Binghamton University faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Jamestown faculty Wheaton College (Illinois) faculty 20th-century American novelists American male novelists People from Hettinger County, North Dakota Poets Laureate of North Dakota 20th-century American poets American male poets 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Illinois Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Wisconsin

Work

Bibliography

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links