Ron Hansen (born December 8, 1947) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

ist, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. He is known for writing

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

exploring the people and history of the American heartland, notably ''

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'' is a 2007 American epic revisionist Western film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt as Jesse James. Adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same ti ...

'' (1983), which was adapted into an acclaimed film.

Biography

Ron Hansen was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

and reared as Catholic. He attended a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

high school,

Creighton Preparatory School Creighton Preparatory School (simply referred to as Creighton Prep or Prep) is a private, Jesuit high school for boys in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was established in 1878 under the name Creighton College and is located in the Roman Cath ...

, and earned a

Bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

degree in English from

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

in Omaha in 1970. Following military service, he earned an M.F.A. from 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 Wri ...

in 1974 and held a Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowship at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He later earned an M.A. in Spirituality from

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

. Hansen is the Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. Professor in the Arts and Humanities at

, where he teaches courses in writing and literature. He is married to the writer

Bo Caldwell Bo Caldwell (born 1955) is the author of the national bestseller ''The Distant Land of My Father'' (2002), and ''The City of Tranquil Light'' (2011). The former was the selection for Silicon Valley Reads 2008. Her short fiction has been published in ...

. In January 2007, Hansen was ordained as a

permanent deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in the Roman Catholic Church. In May 2009, Hansen was inducted to the college of fellows at

Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) is a Catholic graduate school in Berkeley, California. It is a member of the interfaith Graduate Theological Union (GTU) and an affiliate of the University of California Berkeley. DSPT ...

Awards and fellowships

Hansen has received fellowships from the Michigan Society of Fellows, the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, the

John Simon Guggenheim Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim John Simon Guggenheim (December 30, 1867 – November 2, 1941) was an American businessman, politician and philanthropist. Life Born in Philadelphi ...

, and the Lyndhurst Foundation, as well as an Award in Literature from the

American Academy and Institute 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 headqua ...

Novels and short stories

Hansen frequently writes novels about the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, mixing history with morality and drama. Hansen's first novel, ''Desperadoes'' (1979), reimagines the story of the

Dalton Gang The Dalton Gang was a group of outlaws in the American Old West during 1890–1892. It was also known as The Dalton Brothers because four of its members were brothers. The gang specialized in bank and train robberies. During an attempted double ...

. ''

'', a 1983 novel chronicling the life and death of the iconic

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

, was Hansen's most popular work. It also brought him wide critical acclaim, and was nominated to the short list for the

PEN/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. Fi ...

. Most recently (2016), Hansen has explored the life of

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...

in a novel titled simply ''

The Kid The Kid or The Kids may refer to: Fictional characters * The kid (''Blood Meridian''), a character in Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel ''Blood Meridian'' * The Kid (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film series * The Kid (''The Stand'' ...

''.

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

themes of love, redemption and resurrection recur in Hansen's novels and stories. '' Mariette in Ecstasy'' (1991), his novel of the faith and religious experience in the context of a cloistered Catholic nun who apparently bears the

stigmata Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet. Stigm ...

, earned him near universal critical praise. He won the fiction prize from the Bay Area Reviewers Association and the Gold Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the Commonwealth Club of California. Hansen's novel, ''Exiles'' (2008), tells in parallel the story of the shipwreck of the SS ''Deutschland'', which cost the lives of five young nuns, and the story of poet

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...

who was inspired by the tragedy to write ''

The Wreck of the Deutschland ''The Wreck of the Deutschland'' is a 35-stanza ode by Gerard Manley Hopkins with Christian poetry, Christian themes, composed in 1875 and 1876, though not published until 1918. The poem depicts the shipwreck of the SS Deutschland (1866), SS ''D ...

''. Hansen's 1996 novel, '' Atticus'', about the bond of love between a father and a son who has died under mysterious circumstances in a dusty Mexican town, 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

. ''Hitler's Niece'' (1999) is a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

that offers a view of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

as seen through the eyes of

Geli Raubal Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal (; 4 July 1908 – 18 September 1931) was an Austrian woman who was the half-niece of Adolf Hitler. Born in Linz, Austria-Hungary, she was the second child and eldest daughter of Leo Raubal Sr. and Hitler's half-sis ...

, the daughter of his half-sister. ''Isn't It Romantic?'' (2003) is a comic novel about two sophisticated

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

ians stranded in small-town Nebraska. Hansen has published numerous

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

in literary magazines nationwide. His short story collection, ''Nebraska'', was published in 1989. Hansen also edited the anthology ''You Don't Know What Love Is: Contemporary American Stories'' (1987) and co-edited with Jim Shepard ''You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories That Held Them in Awe'' (1994). In addition to his novels and short stories, Hansen has published a compilation of essays on faith and fiction (''A Stay Against Confusion'') and a children's book (''The Shadowmaker''). Hansen also wrote the screenplay for the 1996 film adaptation of ''Mariette in Ecstasy''.

Adaptations

*In 2000, '' Atticus'' was adapted into the film '' Missing Pieces'' starring

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

. *In 2006, ''

'' was adapted for the screen in a film written and directed by

Andrew Dominik Andrew Dominik (born 7 October 1967) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He has directed the crime film '' Chopper'' (2000), the Western drama film ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'' (2007), the neo-noir ...

and starring

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

as James. The film was edited for a September 21, 2007 release. *In 2009, '' Mariette in Ecstasy'' was adapted for the stage and produced at

Lifeline Theatre Lifeline Theatre was founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States in 1983 by five Northwestern University graduates: Meryl Friedman, Suzanne Plunkett, Kathee Sills, Sandy Snyder Pietz, and Steve Totland. The company moved into its permanent locati ...

in Chicago. *Hansen co-wrote the screenplay for the 2020 film ''

The World to Come ''The World to Come'' is a 2020 American drama film directed by Mona Fastvold, from a screenplay by Ron Hansen (novelist), Ron Hansen and Jim Shepard, based upon Shepard's story of the same name. It stars Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Chr ...

'' along with

Jim Shepard Jim Shepard (born 1956) is an American novelist and short story writer, who teaches creative writing and film at Williams College. Biography Shepard was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He received a B.A. at Trinity College in 1978 and an MFA ...

, from Shepard's short story.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Desperadoes'' (1979) * ''

'' (1983) * ''The Shadowmaker'' (1987) * '' Mariette in Ecstasy'' (1991) * '' Atticus'' (1996) * ''Hitler's Niece'' (1999) * ''Isn't It Romantic?: An Entertainment'' (2003) * ''Exiles'' (2008) * ''A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion'' (2011) * ''

'' (2016)

Collections

* ''Nebraska'' (1989) * ''A Stay Against Confusion: Essays on Faith and Fiction'' (2001) * ''She Loves Me Not: New and Selected Stories'' (2012)

As editor or contributor

* ''You Don't Know What Love Is: Contemporary American Stories'' (Compiler) (1987) * ''You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories That Held Them in Awe'' (Editor, with Jim Shepard) (1994) * ''John of the Cross: Selections from The Dark Night and Other Writings'' (Foreword) (2004) * Flyover Fiction, series from University of Nebraska Press (Series editor) (2005–present)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Ron 1947 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male screenwriters American Roman Catholics Writers from Omaha, Nebraska Santa Clara University faculty Creighton University alumni University of Iowa alumni Santa Clara University alumni Stegner Fellows University of Michigan fellows Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty Married Roman Catholic clergy Novelists about outlaws of the American Old West PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Iowa Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from Nebraska