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Craig Lesley

クレイグ・レスリー

Kureigu Resurī

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1945-01-01 （The Dalles, Oregon）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
The Dalles, Oregon → Portland, Oregon

Career

Occupations
memoirist, novelist, editor, university faculty, writer
Active Years
1975-
Affiliations
Portland State University (Senior Writer in Residence), Pacific University (core faculty, low-residency MFA)
Memberships
Western Writers of America (associated)
Nominations
Pulitzer Prize (The Sky Fisherman, 1996), Pulitzer Prize (Storm Riders, 2001)

Education

Whitman College
Country: United States
Received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Whitman College (year unknown).
University of Kansas
Country: United States
Attended; details unknown.
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Country: United States
Attended; details unknown.

Awards

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award
Organization: Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
Result: winner (x3)
Oregon Book Award
2000
Organization: Oregon Literary Arts
Result: winner
Golden Spur Award (Best Novel)
1984
Work: Winterkill
Organization: Western Writers of America
Result: winner
Medicine Pipe Bearer's (Best First Novel)
1984
Work: Winterkill
Organization: Western Writers of America
Result: winner
Pulitzer Prize (nominated)
1996
Work: The Sky Fisherman
Organization: Columbia University (Pulitzer Prize)
Result: nominated
Pulitzer Prize (nominated)
2001
Work: Storm Riders
Organization: Columbia University (Pulitzer Prize)
Result: nominated

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Winterkill

1984 Novel (Western)

An early novel set in the American West exploring working-class lives and relationships to land and nature.

American Westworking classland and nature

River Song

1989 Novel

Through stories centered on rivers and water, it portrays characters' inner lives and regional identity.

riversregional identityfamily

The Sky Fisherman

1995 Novel

Set in the modern American West, it examines human bonds and relationships with nature.

reinterpreting Western mythsfamilynature

Storm Riders

2000 Novel

A novel where turbulent human relationships intersect with natural forces; reported to have been a Pulitzer Prize nominee.

catastrophe and relationshipsWestern landscape

Burning Fence: A Western Memoir of Fatherhood

2005 Memoir

A memoir reflecting on fatherhood and life in the West; personal experience intersects with regional history.

fatherhoodmemoirAmerican West

Talking Leaves: Contemporary Native American Short Stories (editor)

1991 Short story anthology (editor)

Editor of an anthology collecting contemporary Native American short stories.

Native American literatureshort stories

Bibliography

  • Winterkill, 1984
  • River Song, 1989
  • Talking Leaves (editor), 1991
  • The Sky Fisherman, 1995
  • Storm Riders, 2000
  • Burning Fence: A Western Memoir of Fatherhood, 2005
  • Dreamers and Desperados (editor), year unknown

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical, descriptive proseworking-class realismmemoiristic voice blending personal narrative and regional history
Recurring Motifs
rivers and waterWestern landscapefamily and fatherhoodlabor and livelihoods

Health

  • Crushed pelvis injury (age 15)
    青年期（15歳時の事故）
    At 15 he suffered a crushed pelvis in an accident with a harvest machine and nearly died; the experience influenced his later work.

Legacy

Craig Lesley is an important writer of the modern American West, known for portrayals rooted in working-class perspective and regional history. He has won multiple regional and Western-writing awards and contributed as an educator.

Academic Societies

  • Western Writers of America

Trivia

  • Spouse: Kathryn Stavrakis.
  • Has three adult children (two daughters and a son).
  • Official website: http://www.craiglesley.com/
  • Winterkill was among the works that won Western Writers of America awards.