Thomas Williams (writer)

Thomas Williams (November 15, 1926 – October 23, 1990) was an American writer and a National Book Award winning novelist.^[5] Williams was twice nominated for the National Book Award. His first nomination was for Town Burning, published in 1959. He received the award in 1975 for the novel The Hair of Harold Roux (1974), an honor shared with the co-recipient for that year, Robert Stone's Dog Soldiers.^[6] Williams' last published novel, Moon Pinnace (1986), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.^[7]

Born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1926,^[8] Williams' family moved to New Hampshire when he was a child, and he spent most of his life working and writing in that state, although he attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the University of Chicago, and studied briefly in Paris. For most of his career he taught at the University of New Hampshire, and published eight novels during his lifetime.^[7] One of the students Williams tutored during his long tenure at New Hampshire was the novelist John Irving,^[1] who wrote an introduction to a posthumous collection of Williams's collected stories, Leah, New Hampshire (1992).^[2]

Williams' profile appeared in the book Gun People (Doubleday Books, 1st Edition, 1985. ISBN 978-0385191937). In the profile, Williams discusses his interest in hunting and its relevance to his writings.

Williams lived in Durham, NH and died of lung cancer at a hospital in Dover, NH when he was 63.^[5] In 2011, The Hair of Harold Roux was reissued, sparking a renewed interest in his work.^[9] Williams is the father of writer and novelist Ann Joslin Williams who is the author of a collection of linked stories called The Woman in the Woods, which won the 2005 Spokane Prize.^[10] Joslin Williams' first novel Down From Cascom Mountain, was published in 2011. Like her father, she attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and (as of 2011) is a Professor at the University of New Hampshire.^[10]

Selected bibliography

Fiction

• Ceremony of Love. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill (1955)
• Town Burning. New York: Macmillan (1959)
  • (reissue: paperback). Anchor Books, 1988. ISBN 978-0-385-24250-9
• The Night of Trees. New York: Macmillan (1961)
  • (reissue: paperback). Ampersand Press & Small Press Distribution (1989). Introduction by John Irving. ISBN 978-0-935-33109-7
• A High New House. New York: Dial Press (1963) – Williams received the "Dial Press Fellowship Award for Fiction" for this collection of short stories
• Whipple's Castle: An American Novel. New York: Random House (1969)
  • (reissue: paperback). Anchor Books, 1988. ISBN 978-0-385-24249-3
• The Hair of Harold Roux. New York: Random House (1974)^[11]
• Tsuga's Children. New York: Random House (1977) ISBN 0-394-49731-7
• The Followed Man. New York, NY: Richard Marek (1978) ISBN 978-0-399-90025-9
• Moon Pinnace. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company (1986)
  • (reissue: paperback). Anchor Books, 1988. ISBN 978-0-385-24247-9

Posthumous publications

• Leah, New Hampshire: The Collected Stories of Thomas Williams. New York: William Morrow and Company (1992)
  • (Trade Paperback). Graywolf Press, 1993. Introduction by John Irving.
• The Hair of Harold Roux. Bloomsbury USA (2011; reissue)^[4] with an Introduction by Andre Dubus III, Afterword by Ann Joslin Williams. ISBN 978-1-608-19583-1

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Harrigan, Jane. "Becoming John Irving". Unhmagazine.unh.edu. http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/f05/johnirving.html. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
2. ^ ^{a b} McIntyre, John. "Reconsidering Thomas Williams | Pif Magazine". Pifmagazine.com. http://www.pifmagazine.com/2010/04/reconsidering-thomas-williams/. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Bill Morrissey, Biography: Contemporary Musicians". Enotes.com. http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/morrissey-bill-biography. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Ulin, David L. (2011-06-19). "'The Hair of Harold Roux' by Thomas Williams: book review - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/19/entertainment/la-ca-thomas-williams-20110619. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Thomas Williams Is Dead at 63; A Novelist and English Professor - New York Times". Nytimes.com. 1990-10-25. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/25/obituaries/thomas-williams-is-dead-at-63-a-novelist-and-english-professor.html. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
6. ^ Allard, Sam. "Thomas Williams' 'The Hair of Harold Roux' deserves a rousing readership". cleveland.com. http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2011/07/thomas_williams_the_hair_of_ha.html. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "Thomas Williams; Award-Winning Novelist - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 1990-11-06. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-11-06/news/mn-3820_1_thomas-williams. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
8. ^ "The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams". Ann Joslin Williams. 2011-06-15. http://www.annjoslinwilliams.com/_i__the_hair_of_harold_roux__i__by_thomas_williams_105111.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
9. ^ "SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH BOOKS » Blog Archive » Thomas Williams–THE HAIR OF HAROLD ROUX". Marywhipplereviews.com. 2011-06-26. http://marywhipplereviews.com/thomas-williams-the-hair-of-harold-roux/. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "Ann Joslin Williams Homepage". Ann Joslin Williams. 2011-06-15. http://www.annjoslinwilliams.com/index.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
11. ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christoper (June 3, 1974). "Fictions Within Fictions:'The Hair of Harold Roux' by Thomas Williams: book review". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/books/nba-Williams75.pdf. Retrieved 2011-08-03.