Richard Bausch
Encyclopedia
Richard Bausch is an American
novelist and short story writer, and Moss Chair of Excellence in English
at the University of Memphis
. He has written eleven novels, eight short story collections, and one volume of poetry and prose.
from George Mason University
, and an M.F.A.
from the Iowa Writers' Workshop
at the University of Iowa
. He has taught English and Creative Writing at George Mason University and other institutions since 1980. He was previously Heritage Chair in Writing at George Mason University.
, Harper's
, Ploughshares
, Esquire
, The Atlantic, The Southern Review, and The New Yorker
. His work has also been represented in anthologies, including O. Henry Prize Stories
and Best American Short Stories
.
grant in 1982, a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1984, the Hillsdale Prize of The Fellowship of Southern Writers in 1991, The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award in 1992, the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Award in Literature in 1993, and was elected to the Fellowship of Southern Writers
in 1997. He became chancellor of the Fellowship in 2007. Take Me Back (1982) and Spirits and Other Stories (1987) were nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and he received the 2004 PEN/Malamud Award
for Excellence in Short Fiction. Two of his short stories, "The Man Who Knew Belle Star," and Letter To The Lady of The House," won the National Magazine Award
in fiction for The Atlantic Monthly, and The New Yorker, respectively. His story "Reverend Thornhill's Wife" won second place in the 2008 Fall Fiction Contest at Narrative Magazine
. His novel "Peace" won the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize
and the W.Y. Boyd Prize of American Library Association.
, Georgia
. He is the twin
brother of author Robert Bausch
. Bausch previously lived in Virginia
and now lives in Memphis, Tennessee
where he is Moss Chair of Excellence at The University of Memphis.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist and short story writer, and Moss Chair of Excellence in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
at the University of Memphis
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....
. He has written eleven novels, eight short story collections, and one volume of poetry and prose.
Early life and education
He served in the U.S. Air Force between 1966–1969, then toured the Midwest and South playing guitar and singing in a rock band, and writing poetry. Bausch holds a B.A.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, and an M.F.A.
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. He has taught English and Creative Writing at George Mason University and other institutions since 1980. He was previously Heritage Chair in Writing at George Mason University.
Writing
His novels vary from explorations of fear and love in family life, to character-rich historical novels, most notably Rebel Powers (1993), Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea (1996), Hello to the Cannibals (2002), and Peace (2008). He published his first short story in The Atlantic in April 1983: "All the Way in Flagstaff, Arizona" was initially an 800-page novel that he cut down, calling the process "like passing a kidney stone". He is a contributor of short stories to various periodicals, including PlayboyPlayboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, Harper's
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, Ploughshares
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...
, Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, The Atlantic, The Southern Review, and The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. His work has also been represented in anthologies, including O. Henry Prize Stories
O. Henry Award
The O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American master of the form, O. Henry....
and Best American Short Stories
Best American Short Stories
The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of The Best American Series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in contemporary American literature.-Edward O'Brien:The...
.
Awards
Bausch received a National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grant in 1982, a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1984, the Hillsdale Prize of The Fellowship of Southern Writers in 1991, The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award in 1992, the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Award in Literature in 1993, and was elected to the Fellowship of Southern Writers
Fellowship of Southern Writers
The Fellowship of Southern Writers is a literary organization founded in 1987 in Chattanooga, Tennessee by 21 Southern writers and other literary luminaries...
in 1997. He became chancellor of the Fellowship in 2007. Take Me Back (1982) and Spirits and Other Stories (1987) were nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and he received the 2004 PEN/Malamud Award
PEN/Malamud Award
The PEN/Malamud Award and Memorial Reading honors "excellence in the art of the short story", and is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. The selection committee is composed of PEN/Faulkner directors and representatives of Bernard Malamud's literary executors.The award was first given...
for Excellence in Short Fiction. Two of his short stories, "The Man Who Knew Belle Star," and Letter To The Lady of The House," won the National Magazine Award
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
in fiction for The Atlantic Monthly, and The New Yorker, respectively. His story "Reverend Thornhill's Wife" won second place in the 2008 Fall Fiction Contest at Narrative Magazine
Narrative Magazine
Narrative Magazine was founded in 2003 by former Esquire editor Tom Jenks and author, Carol Edgarian. Narrative is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the literary arts in the digital age. Its online library of writing by established writers, such as T. C...
. His novel "Peace" won the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize
Dayton Literary Peace Prize
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize, which was first awarded in 2006, "is the only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace." Awards are given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published at some point within the immediate past year that have led...
and the W.Y. Boyd Prize of American Library Association.
Personal life
Bausch was born in 1945 in Fort BenningFort Benning
Fort Benning is a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus in Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia and Russell County, Alabama...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. He is the twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
brother of author Robert Bausch
Robert Bausch
Robert Bausch is an American fiction writer, the author of six novels and one collection of short stories. He is currently a Professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College, and he has taught at the University of Virginia, The American University, Johns Hopkins University, George Mason...
. Bausch previously lived in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and now lives in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
where he is Moss Chair of Excellence at The University of Memphis.
Works
- Real Presence, 1980
- Take Me Back, 1981
- The Last Good Time, 1984 (made into a film by Bob BalabanBob BalabanRobert Elmer "Bob" Balaban is an American actor, author and director.-Personal life:Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television...
in 1995) - Spirits, And Other Stories, 1987
- Mr. Field's Daughter, 1989
- The Fireman's Wife, And Other Stories, 1990
- Violence, 1992.
- Rebel Powers, 1993
- Rare & Endangered Species, 1994
- Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea, 1996
- Selected Stories of Richard Bausch (The Modern Library), 1996
- In the Night Season, 1998
- Someone To Watch Over Me: Stories, 1999
- Hello To the Cannibals, 2002
- The Stories of Richard Bausch, 2003
- Wives & Lovers: 3 Short Novels, 2004
- The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 7th edition, 2005 (editor with the late R.V. Cassill).
- Thanksgiving Night, 2006
- Peace, 2008
- These Extremes, Louisiana State University PressLouisiana State University PressThe Louisiana State University Press is a nonprofit book publisher and an academic unit of Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, the press publishes scholarly, general interest, and regional books as part of the university’s mission to disseminate knowledge and culture...
, 2009 (a collection of poems and prose) - Something is Out There, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, February 2010