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Annie Proulx

アニー・プルー

Annie Proulx

Aliases: E. Annie Proulx / E. A. Proulx / Edna Ann Proulx
Pen Names: E. Annie Proulx（Used for early short fiction publications）, E. A. Proulx（Used as byline in magazine publications）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1935-08-22 （Norwich, Connecticut, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Norwich, CT and various East Coast locations (childhood) → Vermont (resident for over 30 years) → Bird Cloud ranch, Saratoga, Wyoming (moved 1994) → Northern Newfoundland (seasonal residence) → Port Townsend, Washington (residence as of 2019)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Journalist, Librettist
Active Years
1963-2025

Education

Colby College
Period: 1954–1955
Country: United States
Attended briefly; left to marry
University of Vermont
College of Arts and Sciences / History
Degree: B.A.
Period: 1966–1969
Year of Graduation: 1969
Country: United States
Graduated cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa
Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University)
Graduate school / History
Degree: M.A.
Period: 1971–1973
Year of Graduation: 1973
Country: Canada
Earned M.A.; passed PhD oral exams but did not complete dissertation. Received honorary doctorate in 1999.
Concordia University (honorary degree)
Degree: Honorary Doctorate
Year of Graduation: 1999
Country: Canada
Awarded an honorary doctorate by Concordia University in 1999

Awards

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
1993
Work: Postcards
Category: Fiction
Organization: PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Result: 受賞
Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction
1993
Work: The Shipping News
Category: Fiction
Organization: Chicago Tribune
Result: 受賞
Irish Times International Fiction Prize
1993
Work: The Shipping News
Category: Fiction
Organization: The Irish Times
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Fiction
1993
Work: The Shipping News
Category: Fiction
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1994
Work: The Shipping News
Category: Fiction
Organization: Pulitzer Prizes
Result: 受賞
John Dos Passos Prize
1997
Work: For body of work
Organization: Dos Passos Prize committee
Result: 受賞
O. Henry Award
1998
Work: Brokeback Mountain
Category: Short story
Organization: O. Henry Awards
Result: 受賞
O. Henry Award
1999
Work: The Mud Below
Category: Short story
Organization: O. Henry Awards
Result: 受賞
The New Yorker Book Award (Best Fiction)
2000
Work: Close Range: Wyoming Stories
Category: Short stories
Organization: The New Yorker
Result: 受賞
Aga Khan Prize for Fiction
2004
Work: The Wamsutter Wolf
Category: Short story
Organization: The Paris Review (Aga Khan Prize)
Result: 受賞
United States Artists Fellow
2012
Work: For contribution to arts
Organization: United States Artists
Result: 受賞
National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
2017
Work: Lifetime achievement
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞（名誉）
Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
2018
Work: Lifetime achievement
Organization: Library of Congress
Result: 受賞
Orange Prize (shortlisted)
1997
Work: Accordion Crimes
Category: Fiction
Organization: Orange Prize (Women’s Prize for Fiction)
Result: 短冊（ショートリスト）
F. Scott Fitzgerald Award (Achievement in American Literature)
2017
Work: Lifetime achievement
Organization: F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival
Result: 受賞
NEA Fellowship
1992
Work: Support for creative work
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1992
Work: Support for creative work
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Heart Songs and Other Stories

1988 Short story collection

A collection of early short stories, later republished with revisions.

NatureRural lifeIsolation

Postcards

1992 Novel

Her first novel, tracing movement and family history; winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award.

Immigrant historyFamilyAmerican change

The Shipping News

1993 Novel

A novel set in Newfoundland about renewal and community. Won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; adapted as a film.

RenewalCommunitySea and place
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Shipping News (film) / Lasse Hallström (2001)

Accordion Crimes

1996 Novel

A multigenerational tale centered on immigrants and an accordion. Shortlisted for the 1997 Orange Prize.

ImmigrationHeritageObjects' histories

Close Range: Wyoming Stories

1999 Short story collection

A collection of short stories set in Wyoming, including 'Brokeback Mountain'.

Rural lifeNatureSexual and emotional tensions
Adaptations
  • [Film] Brokeback Mountain (film) / Ang Lee (2005)
  • [Opera] Brokeback Mountain (opera) / Charles Wuorinen（作曲） / リブレット：Annie Proulx (2014)

That Old Ace in the Hole

2002 Novel

A novel depicting an ensemble of characters in the American Midwest.

CommunityEnvironmentInterpersonal relationships

Barkskins

2016 Novel (historical)

A long-form historical novel about forestry and environmental destruction; adapted as a TV series.

Environmental destructionColonizationIntergenerational impact
Adaptations
  • [TV series] Barkskins (TV series) (2020)

Bird Cloud: A Memoir

2011 Memoir (non-fiction)

A memoir based largely on her Bird Cloud ranch in Wyoming.

MemoryLand and livingNature

Fen, Bog & Swamp

2022 Non-fiction

A non-fiction examination of peatland destruction and its role in the climate crisis.

Environmental issuesWetland conservationClimate change

Bibliography

  • Great Grapes: Grow the Best Ever (1980)
  • Sweet & Hard Cider (1980, with Lew Nichols)
  • Making the Best Apple Cider (1983)
  • Plan and Make Your Own Fences & Gates (1983)
  • The Fine Art of Salad Gardening (1985)
  • The Gourmet Gardener (1987)
  • Heart Songs and Other Stories (1988)
  • Postcards (1992)
  • The Shipping News (1993)
  • Accordion Crimes (1996)
  • Close Range: Wyoming Stories (1999)
  • Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2 (2004)
  • That Old Ace in the Hole (2002)
  • Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3 (2008)
  • Bird Cloud: A Memoir (2011)
  • Barkskins (2016)
  • Fen, Bog & Swamp (2022)

Adaptations

  • The Shipping News (2001 film)
  • Brokeback Mountain (2005 film)
  • Brokeback Mountain (2014 opera)
  • Barkskins (2020 TV series)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Detailed, topographical descriptionsConcise and forceful narrationStrong focus on regional specificity
Recurring Motifs
Nature and placeIsolation and renewalGenerations and memoryRelationship between people and land

Legacy

Annie Proulx is a leading figure in contemporary American literature, acclaimed for her depictions of locality and nature that explore isolation and renewal. Her works, notably The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain, have had significant impact on popular culture through adaptations.

Archives

  • New York Public Library (Annie Proulx Papers)

In Popular Culture

  • Brokeback Mountain film adaptation brought wide recognition including Academy Awards
  • The Shipping News adapted into a 2001 film
  • Barkskins adapted as a TV series (2020)

Quotes

  • “It's not good for one's view of human nature, that's for sure. You begin to see, when invitations are coming from festivals and colleges to come read (for an hour for a hefty sum of money), that the institutions are head-hunting for trophy writers. Most don't particularly care about your writing or what you're trying to say. You're there as a human object, one that has won a prize. It gives you a very odd, meat-rack kind of sensation.”
    Source: Interview/comment cited in Atlantic (1997) and other sources (1997)

Trivia

  • First published fiction appeared in If magazine (1963) under the byline E. A. Proulx.
  • First woman to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Postcards.
  • 'Brokeback Mountain' was adapted into an award-winning film.
  • Passed PhD oral exams but did not complete the dissertation; later received an honorary doctorate in 1999.
  • Has four children (three sons and one daughter).