American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 1 (1980) Winner
Douglas Woolf
ダグラス・ウルフ
Douglas Woolf
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1922-03-23 （New York City）
- Died
- 1992-01-18 （Urbana, Illinois） age 69
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Larchmont, New York → New York City → Various U.S. locations (itinerant life, migrant work) → Urbana, Illinois
Career
- Occupations
- author, novelist, short story writer, book reviewer, publisher (small press)
- Active Years
- 1955-1992
- Affiliations
- Wolf Run Books (operator), Little magazine 'Vital Statistics' (editor/publisher, short-lived)
- Influenced By
- Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Donald M. Allen
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | — | — | — | 1939–1942 | United States |
| University of New Mexico | — | — | BA | 1946–1950（推定） | United States |
| University of Arizona | — | Graduate studies | — | 大学院課程（年不明） | United States |
Harvard University
Period:
1939–1942
Country:
United States
Attended until 1942; studies interrupted (World War II)
University of New Mexico
Degree:
BA
Period:
1946–1950（推定）
Year of Graduation:
1950
Country:
United States
Received BA (1950)
University of Arizona
Graduate studies
Period:
大学院課程（年不明）
Country:
United States
Graduate work; his thesis novel was rejected
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | American Book Award | Future Preconditional: A Collection | — | Before Columbus Foundation | winner |
American Book Award
1980
Work:
Future Preconditional: A Collection
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Hypocritic Days
1955 novelAn early short novel/collection reflecting Woolf's itinerant life and marginal characters; one of his first published works.
itinerancysocial marginalityidentity
Fade Out
1959 novelA road-novel style work portraying characters trying to escape middle-class expectations, rendered with ironic, melancholic humor.
road noveldeviation from middle-class normstravel
Wall to Wall
1962 novelStories often set in American margins and ghost towns, depicting improvisational lives of societal eccentrics.
marginsghost townsimprovised living
Future Preconditional: A Collection
1978 short story collectionThe short story collection that won the American Book Award in 1980; explores Woolf's characteristic themes of marginal characters and itinerancy.
marginal charactersitinerancyironical humor
Bibliography
- The Hypocritic Days (1955)
- Fade Out (1959)
- Wall to Wall (1962)
- Signs of a Migrant Worrier (1965)
- Ya! and John-Juan; Two Novels (1971)
- Spring of the Lamb (1972)
- On Us (1977)
- HAD: A Tale (1977)
- Future Preconditional: A Collection (1978)
- The Timing Chain (1985)
- Loving Ladies, to Maine and back & beyond (1986)
- Hypocritic Days & Other Tales (1993, edited)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- concise, restrained narrationironical humorroad-novel elements
- Recurring Motifs
- deserts and ghost townsitinerancy and travelsociety's misfits
Health
-
declining health (details unspecified)1980年代半ば以降Health began to decline in the mid-1980s, affecting his activity and writing
Legacy
Douglas Woolf is associated with the fiction wing of the New American Poetry movement and left a distinct perspective in American literature through his road-novel depictions of marginal characters. He also contributed to contemporary literary activity through small-press publishing and magazine work.
Archives
- Douglas Woolf papers (University of Delaware Library)
Trivia
- Served as an ambulance driver in North Africa during WWII and later as a flight officer with the U.S. Army Air Force.
- Married Sandra Braman in 1976; the couple ran the small press Wolf Run Books together.
- Much of his fiction draws on his itinerant life and various temporary jobs.
- Won the American Book Award in 1980 for 'Future Preconditional'.