Paul West (poet)

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Paul West was born in Eckington England on February 23, 1930 to Alfred and Mildred (Noden) West. He grew up amongst a family that loved books and considered the written word to be sacred. This love of books pushed him to gain a diverse education through his studies at Oxford and Columbia Universities. West’s literary craft earned him the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Literature Award in 1985 and the Lannon Prize for Fiction and Grand Prix Halperine-Kaminsky awards in 1993.

Paul West has an eclectic style. Themes from his works usually center around psychic abuse, failed relationships, and societal inadequacy. However, there is a strong sense of self-discovery and survival amongst these themes. His works are an outpouring on his view of the human condition. In an interview with David W. Madden, Mr. West remarked that he always listens to some kind of classical music while writing and composes all of his works using a typewriter. The revision process is fascinating for him and one he laboriously proceeds through with each literary piece.

[edit] Works

Long Fiction:

• A Quality of Mercy, 1961
• Tenement of Clay, 1965
• Alley Jaggers, 1966
• I’m Expecting to Live Quite Soon, 1970
• Caliban’s Filibuster, 1971
• Bela Lugosi’s White Christmas, 1972
• Colonel Mint, 1972
• Gala, 1976
• The Very Rich Hours of Count von Stauffenberg, 1980
• Rat Man of Paris, 1986
• The Place in Flowers, Where Pollen Rests, 1988
• Lord Byron’s Doctor, 1989
• The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper, 1991
• Love’s Mansion, 1992
• Sporting with Amaryllis, 1996

Short Fiction:

• The Universe and Other Fictions, 1988

Poetry:

• Poems, 1952
• The Spellbound Horses, 1960
• The Snow Leopard, 1964

Nonfiction:

• The Growth of the Novel, 1959
• Byron and the Spoiler’s Art, 1960 – 2nd ed. 1992
• I, Said the Sparrow, 1963
• The Modern Novel, 1963
• Robert Penn Warren, 1964
• The Wine of Absurdity: Essays in Literature and Consolation, 1966
• Words for a Deaf Daughter, 1969
• Out of My Depths: A Swimmer in the Universe, 1983
• Sheer Fiction, 1987
• Portable People, 1990
• Sheer Fiction, vol. 2, 1991
• Sheer Fiction, vol. 3, 1994
• A Stroke of Genius: Illness and Self-Discovery, 1995

Edited Text:

• Byron: Twentieth Century Views, 1963

[edit] External links

• "An Interview With Paul West", David W. Madden. A 1989 interview

• Brief biography from Answers.com

[edit] Further reading

David W. Madden, Understanding Paul West, ISBN 0-87249-886-7[1]
Cycolopedia of World Authors, 3rd Ed. Vol. 5, Sim-Z. "Paul West". pp 2137-2138.