J. F. Powers
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J. F. (James Farl) Powers (8 July 1917 Jacksonville, Illinois - 12 June 1999 Collegeville, Minnesota) was a Roman Catholic American novelist and short-story writer who often drew his inspiration from developments in the Catholic Church; known for his studies of Midwestern Catholic Priests. Powers was a conscientious objector during World War II and worked as a hospital orderly.
Although his published output was rather slim, Powers' work 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 enclosed, but gradually changing world of post-Second World War American Catholicism.
Prince of Darkness and Other Stories appeared in 1947. The Presence of Grace (1956) was also a collection of short stories. Morte d'Urban (1963), which won the National Book Award fiction prize the year it was published, was his first novel. Look how the Fish Live appeared in 1975 and Wheat That Springeth Green in 1988.
[edit] Published works
- 1947 — The 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
[edit] References
- Minnesota Author Biographies Project J. F. Powers
- "The Greatest Catholic Writer of the 20th Century" (First Things)
