J. F. Powers
| J. F. Powers | |
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| Born | James Farl Powers July 8, 1917 Jacksonville, Illinois |
| Died | June 12, 1999 (aged 81) Collegeville, Minnesota |
| Occupation | Novelist and short-story writer |
James Farl Powers (July 8, 1917 – June 12, 1999) was a Roman Catholic American novelist and short-story writer who often drew his inspiration from developments in the Catholic Church, and was known for his studies of midwestern Catholic priests. Although not a priest himself, he is credited with having captured a "clerical idiom" in the postwar era in North America. His first writing experiment began as a spiritual exercise during a religious retreat.
Powers was a conscientious objector during World War II, which resulted in a prison sentence; later he worked as a hospital orderly.[1]
Although Powers's published output was rather slim, it has long been admired by a devoted band of followers who appreciate his gentle satire and astonishing ability to recreate with a few words the insular but gradually changing world of post-WWII American Catholicism. Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy praised his work, and Frank O'Connor declared him as "among the greatest living storytellers"[2]
Prince of Darkness and Other Stories appeared in 1947. The Presence of Grace (1956) was also a collection of short stories. His first novel was Morte d'Urban (1962), which won the 1963 National Book Award for fiction. Look How the Fish Live appeared in 1975 and Wheat that Springeth Green in 1988.
After moving back and forth from Ireland, Powers settled with his family in Collegeville, Minnesota, where he taught Creative writing and English literature.
[edit] Published works
- 1947 — Prince of Darkness and Other Stories
- 1949 — Cross Country. St. Paul, Home of the Saints.
- 1962 — Morte d'Urban — novel
- 1963 — Lions, Harts, Leaping Does, and Other Stories
- 1969 — The Presence of Grace
- 1975 — Look How the Fish Live
- 1988 — Wheat that Springeth Green — novel
- 1991 — The Old Bird, A Love Story
- 1999 — The Stories of J. F. Powers
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jackson, Kenneth T. (ed.) (2004). The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives (Vol. 5, 1997-1999), p. 456. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0684806630.
- ^ Mel Gussow (June 17, 1999). "J. F. Powers, 81, Dies; Wrote About Priests". The New York Times
[edit] References
- Minnesota Author Biographies Project J. F. Powers
- "The Greatest Catholic Writer of the 20th Century" (First Things)
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- 1917 births
- 1999 deaths
- American Christian pacifists
- American conscientious objectors
- American novelists
- American Roman Catholic religious writers
- American short story writers
- Guggenheim Fellows
- National Book Award winners
- Writers from Illinois
- Writers from Minnesota
- American novelist, 20th century birth stubs
- American short story writer stubs
