Stewart O'Nan (born February 4, 1961) 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 wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Life and work

Early life and early career

Born on February 4, 1961, to John Lee O'Nan II and Mary Ann O'Nan (''née'' Smith), he and his brother John were raised in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where their father worked for

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

. O'Nan earned his B.S. in

Aerospace Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1983. While in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, O'Nan became a fan of the

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ch ...

. On October 27, 1984, he married Trudy Anne Southwick, his high school sweetheart. They moved to

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

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

, and he went to work for Grumman Aerospace Corporation in

Bethpage, New York Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Isla ...

, as a test engineer from 1984 to 1988. Encouraged by his wife to pursue a career in writing, they moved to

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

, and O'Nan returned to college and graduated with his M.F.A. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1992. His family and he then moved to

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. Its population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States census, a 16% increase from 2010. maki ...

, and he taught at the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with almost 13,000 students and approximately 430 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founded in ...

and the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. From 1995 to 1998, he was a writer-in-residence at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Short stories

O'Nan's first book, and only collection of short stories, ''In the Walled City'', was awarded the 1993

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 d ...

. Many of the stories in that collection also originally appeared in publications such as ''Ascent'' (the short story "Econoline"), ''Columbia'' (the short story "The Third of July"), ''Jam To-Day'' (the short story "Mr Wu Thinks"), '' The Nebraska Review'' (the short story "Winter Haven), ''

Northwest Review The University of Oregon has a diverse array of student-run and non-student-run media outlets. Newspapers ''Daily Emerald'' The ''Daily Emerald'', published Monday through Friday, primarily features news items and commentary pertaining to the Un ...

'' (the short story "The Finger"), '' The South Dakota Review'' (the short story "The Calling") and ''

The Threepenny Review ''The Threepenny Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1980. It is published in Berkeley, California, by founding editor Wendy Lesser. Maintaining a quarterly schedule (March, June, September, December), it offers fiction, memoirs ...

'' (the short story "Steak").

Novels

Also in 1993, O'Nan was able to find a publisher for his second book, and first novel, '' Snow Angels''—based on the story "Finding Amy" from ''In the Walled City''—when the manuscript earned him the first Pirate's Alley Faulkner Prize for the Novel, awarded by the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society of New Orleans. In 1995, his family and he moved to

Avon, Connecticut Avon ( ) is a town in the Farmington Valley region of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. As of 2020, the town had a population of 19,795. History At the end of the last Ice Age, 12,400 years BP of the Younger Dryas, nom ...

. He was a writer-in-residence and taught creative writing at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in nearby

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

until 1997. The research he did for his novel ''The Names of the Dead'' led to the creation of a class that studied

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

memoirs as a form of literature, which he also initially taught. In 1996,

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

named him one of America's Best Young Novelists. In a 2002 article, "Finding Time to Write," he wrote: ''A Face in the Crowd'' is a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

and O'Nan, originally published as an

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

on August 21, 2012, as well as an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

, read by

Craig Wasson Craig Wasson (born March 15, 1954) is an American actor. He made his film debut in '' Rollercoaster'' (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's '' Body Double'' (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's '' A Nigh ...

. In 2015, O'Nan released a novel entitled ''West of Sunset'', about the last days of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald as he moves out to Los Angeles after being ruined financially and experiencing health problems, after his wife is put in an insane asylum. Filmmaker

James Ponsoldt James Ponsoldt is an American film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed the drama films '' Off the Black'' (2006) and '' Smashed'' (2012), the romantic comedy-drama ''The Spectacular Now'' (2013), and the dramas '' The End of the Tour'' ( ...

has been in negotiations to write and direct a film adaptation of the book, with actors like

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar Ware ...

and

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (; ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. List of awards and nominations received by Alicia Vikander, Her accolades include an Academy Award and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film ...

currently being attached.

Nonfiction books

When he researched ''The Circus Fire'', he advertised in ''

The Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven an ...

'' and received many answers to his request for interviews with survivors of the Hartford Circus fire. In the spring of 2005 O'Nan spoke at the Lucy Robbins Welles Library in

Newington, Connecticut Newington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. Located south of downtown Hartford, Newington is an older, mainly residential suburb located in Greater Hartford. As of 2023, t ...

, as the featured author in its One Book, 4 Towns program. In an article for Connecticut Magazine, when asked about '' Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season'', the book he co-authored with

, O'Nan replied, "I always tell my friends that the luckiest thing that ever happened to me was becoming a Red Sox fan."

Screenplays and other writing

In 2008, Lonely Road Books sold out its pre-orders for O'Nan's latest writing, a screenplay simply titled ''Poe''. It is a dramatic retelling of the life of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

. The screenplay was released as a limited edition of 200 copies and as a lettered edition of 26 copies. It features a foreword by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

and frontispieces by

Jill Bauman Jill Bauman is an American artist. She has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award five times and nominated for the Chesley Award several times. Her art has been exhibited at the Delaware Art Museum, the Moore College of Art, Art Students ...

Adaptations

In 2007 ''Snow Angels'' was adapted for a film of the same title, directed by

David Gordon Green David Gordon Green (born April 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker. Green began his career in 1997 and gained fame with the independent film ''George Washington'' (2000). He directed two additional independent dramas, '' All the Real Girls'' (2003 ...

, who also wrote the screenplay, and which starred

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing troubled police officer Jason Dixon in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). He was nominated i ...

and

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress. The only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, she debuted in the series premiere of the 1975 daytime drama ''Couples.'' In 1993, she made her theatrical film deb ...

. A film adaptation '' A Prayer for the Dying'' of his 1999 novel of the same name began filming in 2024, starting

Johnny Flynn Johnny Flynn (born 14 March 1983) is a British actor and musician. He starred as Dylan Witter in the Channel 4 and Netflix television sitcom '' Lovesick'' and is also known for his performances as David Bowie in the 2020 film '' Stardust''; M ...

and John C. Reilly.

Works

Short story collections

*''In the Walled City'' (

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 ...

, 1993)

Novels

*''Transmission'' (Arjuna Library, 1987) *'' Snow Angels'' (Doubleday/BDD, 1994) *''The Names of the Dead'' (Doubleday/BDD, 1996) *''The Speed Queen'' (Doubleday/ BDD, 1997) *''A World Away'' (Henry Holt/Macmillan, 1998) *''A Prayer for the Dying'' (Henry Holt/Macmillan, 1999) *''

Everyday People "Everyday People" is a 1968 song composed by Sly Stone and first recorded by his band, Sly and the Family Stone. It was the first single by the band to go to number one on the Soul singles chart and the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It hel ...

'' (Grove Press, 2001) *''Wish You Were Here'' (Grove Press, 2002) *''The Night Country'' (Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Macmillan, 2003) *''The Good Wife'' (Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Macmillan, 2005) *'' Last Night at the Lobster'' (

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

, 2007) *''Songs for the Missing'' (Viking/Penguin, October 2008) *''Emily, Alone'' (Viking/Penguin, March 2011) *''The Odds'' (Viking/Penguin, January 2012) *'' A Face in the Crowd'' (Simon & Schuster Digital, August 2012) (e-book and audiobook novella co-written with

) *''West of Sunset'' (Viking/Penguin/ PRH, January 2015) *''City of Secrets'': a novel (Viking, 26 April 2016) *''Henry, Himself'' (Viking, May 2019) *''Ocean State'' (Atlantic Monthly Press, March 2022)

Screenplays

*''Poe'' ( Lonely Road Books, 2008)

Nonfiction

*'' The Circus Fire'' (Doubleday, 2000) *'' Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season'' (with

) (Scribner, 2004)

As editor

*''On Writers and Writing'' by John Gardner (Addison-Wesley, 1994) *''The Vietnam Reader: The Definitive Collection of Fiction and Nonfiction on the War'' (Anchor Books, 1998)

References

External links

Official Website1997 Interview
in ''by Ron Hogan's Beatrice''

in the

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

*The Bat Segundo Show (radio interviews)
2007 (40 minutes)2012 (one hour)
*

External links

Stewart O'Nan
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Authorities — with 6 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Onan, Stewart 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Writers from Pittsburgh Cornell University alumni Boston University College of Engineering alumni 1961 births Living people University of Central Oklahoma faculty People from Avon, Connecticut Writers from Ithaca, New York 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Pennsylvania