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John Clendennin Talbot Burne Hawkes, Jr.

ジョン・ホークス

John Hawkes

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1925-08-17 （Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.）
Died
1998-05-15 （Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.） age 72
Nationality
United States
Languages
English

Career

Occupations
novelist, university professor
Active Years
1949-1997
Affiliations
Brown University, Harvard University (teaching)
Influenced By
Vladimir Nabokov
Influenced
Rick Moody, Jeffrey Eugenides, Marilynne Robinson, William Melvin Kelley, David Shields
Nominations
National Book Award (1965 nomination)

Education

Harvard College
Country: United States

Awards

American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award
1962
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
National Book Award
1965
Work: Second Skin
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: ノミネート
Prix du Meilleur Livre étranger
1973
Work: The Blood Oranges
Organization: Prix du Meilleur Livre étranger
Result: 受賞
Prix Médicis Étranger
1986
Work: Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade
Organization: Prix Médicis
Result: 受賞
Lannan Literary Award
1990
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Lime Twig

1961 Experimental literature / Avant-garde

An experimental novel set against a tense postwar English milieu, notable for its fragmented narration and dreamlike, symbolic imagery.

violencedesireboundaries between reality and fantasy

The Cannibal

1949 Experimental novel

One of Hawkes's early novels, demonstrating his tendency to deconstruct traditional narrative elements and focus on language and imagery.

linguistic experimentationnightmarish imagery

The Blood Oranges

1970 Novel

A sensual novel with Mediterranean overtones that explores desire and the disintegration of relationships set in Europe.

eroticismdesiredecay

Bibliography

  • Charivari (1949)
  • The Cannibal (1949)
  • The Beetle Leg (1951)
  • The Goose on the Grave (1954)
  • The Owl (1954)
  • The Lime Twig (1961)
  • Second Skin (1964)
  • The Innocent Party (plays) (1966)
  • Lunar Landscapes (short stories) (1969)
  • The Blood Oranges (1970)
  • Death, Sleep, and the Traveler (1974)
  • Travesty (1976)
  • The Passion Artist (1979)
  • Virginie Her Two Lives (1982)
  • Humors of Blood & Skin: a John Hawkes reader (1984)
  • Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade (1985)
  • Innocence in Extremis (1985)
  • Whistlejacket (1988)
  • Sweet William (1993)
  • The Frog (1996)
  • An Irish Eye (1997)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
experimental, avant-garde stylelanguage- and image-focused prosedeconstruction of traditional plot and characterization
Recurring Motifs
nightmarestrauma of warviolence and perversityintersection of reality and fantasy

Legacy

John Hawkes was an important experimental writer in American fiction, known for innovations in language and structure. He taught for many years at Brown University, mentoring several notable writers. His work received critical acclaim and international awards.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (awardee)

Archives

  • Brown University Archives (papers held)
  • University of South Carolina Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections (Donald J. and Ellen Greiner collection)

Quotes

  • For me, everything depends on language.
    Source: Interview / writings
  • I began to write fiction on the assumption that the true enemies of the novel were plot, character, setting and theme... and having once abandoned these familiar ways of thinking about fiction, totality of vision or structure was really all that remained.
    Source: Interview (1964) (1964)
  • Everything I have written comes out of nightmare, out of the nightmare of war, I think.
    Source: Statement / essay

Trivia

  • Full name: John Clendennin Talbot Burne Hawkes, Jr.
  • Taught at Harvard and Brown; long-time professor at Brown University.
  • Papers and manuscripts are held by Brown University archives.
  • Cited Vladimir Nabokov as a major influence.