Charles Morley Baxter (born May 13, 1947) is an American novelist, essayist, and poet.

Biography

Baxter was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Minnesota, to John and Mary Barber (Eaton) Baxter. He graduated from

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

in 1969. In 1974 he received his PhD in English from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

with a thesis on

Djuna Barnes Djuna Barnes (, June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982) was an American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel ''Nightwood'' (1936), a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist litera ...

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

, and

Nathanael West Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and '' The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set ...

. Baxter taught high school in

Pinconning, Michigan Pinconning is a city in Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,307 at the 2010 Census. It is included in the Saginaw, Midland, and Bay City metropolitan area. The city is locally noted for its former production of chees ...

for a year before beginning his university teaching career at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. He then moved to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where for many years he directed the Creative Writing MFA program. He was a visiting professor of creative writing at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

and at

Stanford 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 considere ...

. He taught at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and in the

Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campus j ...

. He retired in 2020. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985. He received the PEN/Malamud Award in 2021 for Excellence in the Short Story. He married teacher Martha Ann Hauser in 1976, and has a son, Daniel. Baxter and Hauser eventually separated.

Works

Novels

* ''First Light'' (1987). An eminent astrophysicist and her brother, a small-town Buick salesman, discover how they grew so far apart and the bonds of love that still keep them together. * ''Shadow Play'' (1993). As his wife does gymnastics and magic tricks, his crazy mother invents her own vocabulary, and his aunt writes her own version of the Bible, Five Oaks Assistant City Manager Wyatt Palmer tries to live a normal life and nearly succeeds, but... * '' The Feast of Love'' (2000) (

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 ...

), a reimagined ''Midsummer Night's Dream'', a story told through the eyes of several different people. Nominated for 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 ...

. A

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of the book, starring

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

Fred Ward Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor and producer. Starting with a role in an Italian television movie in 1973, he appeared in such diverse films as '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ''Southern Comfort'', '' The R ...

and

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including ''Sabrina'' (199 ...

and directed by

Robert Benton Robert Douglas Benton (born September 29, 1932) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the writer and director of the film ''Kramer vs. Kramer'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Adapted S ...

, was released in 2007. * ''Saul and Patsy'' (2003). A teacher's marriage and identity are threatened by a dangerously obsessed teenage boy at his school. * ''The Soul Thief'' (2008). A graduate student's complicated relationships lead to a disturbing case of identity theft, which ultimately leads the man to wonder if he really is who he thinks he is. * ''The Sun Collective'' (2020, Pantheon Books). The lives of two very different couples—one retired, one in their twenties—intersect in Minneapolis around an anti-capitalist collective arguing for revolution, as an underground group of extremists wage war on the homeless.

Short story collections

* ''Harmony of the World'' (1984). Winner of the

Associated Writing Programs The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is a nonprofit literary organization that provides support, advocacy, resources, and community to nearly 50,000 writers, 500 college and university creative writing programs, and 125 writers' c ...

Award. * ''Through the Safety Net'' (1985) * ''A Relative Stranger'' (1990) * ''Believers'' (1997) * ''Gryphon: New and Selected Stories'' (2011) * ''There's Something I Want You to Do: Stories'' (February 2015)

Non-fiction

* ''Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction'' (1997) * ''The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot'' (2007). Winner of the 2008 Minnesota Book Award for General Non-fiction. * ''Wonderlands: Essays on the Life of Literature'' (2022)

Poetry collections

* ''Chameleon'' (1970) * ''The South Dakota Guidebook'' (1974) * ''Imaginary Paintings'' (1989)

Edited works

* ''The Business of Memory'' (1999) * ''Best New American Voices 2001'' (2001) * ''Bringing the Devil to His Knees: The Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life'' (2001) * ''A William Maxwell Portrait: Memories and Appreciations'' (2004)

References

* Greasley, Philip A. (2001). Dictionary of Midwestern Literature Volume One: The Authors. Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 54. .

External links

Charles Baxter's official website

at Powells.com

* ttp://www.pifmagazine.com/2013/04/charles-baxter/ Interview with the authorat Pif Magazine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Charles 1947 births American book editors 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Minnesota Living people University at Buffalo alumni Writers from Minneapolis Wayne State University faculty Macalester College alumni Warren Wilson College faculty 21st-century American novelists American male novelists University of Michigan faculty American male essayists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Michigan Fulbright alumni