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Kent Haruf

ケント・ハルフ

Kento Harufu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1943-02-24 （Pueblo, Colorado, U.S.）
Died
2014-11-30 （Salida, Colorado, U.S.） age 71
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Methodist (family background)
Residence History
Pueblo, Colorado → Cañon City, Colorado → Iowa City, Iowa → Madison, Wisconsin → Murphysboro, Illinois → Salida, Colorado

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Teacher
Active Years
1984-2014
Affiliations
Nebraska Wesleyan University (faculty), Southern Illinois University Carbondale (faculty)
Influenced By
William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Anton Chekhov, John Irving
Nominations
1999 - Plainsong, National Book Award (finalist), 2014 - Benediction, Folio Prize (shortlisted)

Education

Nebraska Wesleyan University
English
Degree: BA
Period: 1961–1965
Year of Graduation: 1965
Country: United States
Originally studied biology, switched to English and graduated
University of Iowa (Iowa Writers' Workshop)
Creative Writing (MFA)
Degree: MFA
Period: 1971–1973
Year of Graduation: 1973
Country: United States
Completed MFA at the Iowa Writers' Workshop
University of Kansas (attended, withdrew)
Graduate English
Period: 1965–1966
Country: United States
Withdrew during second semester

Awards

PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
1984
Work: The Tie That Binds
Organization: PEN America
Result: Runner-up
Whiting Award
1986
Category: Fiction
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: Won
Book Sense Award (Indies Choice)
1999
Work: Plainsong
Organization: Indies Choice / American Booksellers Association
Result: Shortlisted
National Book Award (Fiction)
1999
Work: Plainsong
Category: Fiction
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Shortlisted
Alex Awards
2000
Work: Plainsong
Organization: American Library Association (YALSA)
Result: Won
Book Sense Award (Indies Choice)
2005
Work: Eventide
Organization: Indies Choice / American Booksellers Association
Result: Shortlisted
Colorado Book Award
2005
Work: Eventide
Organization: Colorado Humanities
Result: Won
Lange-Taylor Prize
2005
Work: West of Last Chance (High Plains)
Organization: Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University
Result: Won
Dos Passos Prize
2006
Organization: Dos Passos Prize organization
Result: Won
Wallace Stegner Award
2012
Organization: Center of the American West, University of Colorado
Result: Won
Folio Prize
2014
Work: Benediction
Organization: The Folio Prize organization
Result: Shortlisted

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Tie That Binds

1984 Fiction (novel)

Follows Edith Goodnough, an elderly resident of Holt County, focusing on small-town ties and a suspicion that upends lives.

small-town communityloneliness and connectionmorality and judgment

Where You Once Belonged

1990 Fiction (novel)

Centers on Jack Burdette, a former athlete, exploring nostalgia, belonging, and the costs of community life.

returning homehuman frailtyalienation from community

Plainsong

1999 Fiction (novel)

A linked, ensemble novel set in the fictional town of Holt, following teachers, a pregnant teenager, and isolated rancher brothers; celebrated for spare prose and humane portrayals.

beauty of ordinary lifefamily and surrogate familiesgoodness and responsibility
Adaptations
  • [Television film] Plainsong (TV film) (2004)
  • [Stage] Plainsong (stage) (2008)
Translations
  • Plainsong

Eventide

2005 Fiction (novel)

A direct sequel to Plainsong, following the residents of Holt as their lives continue, emphasizing quiet daily life and human decency.

ongoing ordinary lifeforgiveness and carecommunity bonds
Adaptations
  • [Stage] Eventide (stage) (2010)

Benediction

2013 Fiction (novel)

Focuses on 'Dad' Lewis, owner of the Holt hardware store, in his final months; addresses death, forgiveness, and the town's relation to broader events.

confronting deathforgivenessdignity of the ordinary
Adaptations
  • [Stage] Benediction (stage) (2015)

Our Souls at Night

2015 Fiction (novel)

A short novel about two widowed neighbors who begin spending nights together to stave off loneliness; deals with late-life love, loneliness, and dignity.

late-life lovelonelinessmutual care
Adaptations
  • [Film] Our Souls at Night (film) / Ritesh Batra (2017)
Translations
  • Our Souls at Night

West of Last Chance (High Plains)

2008 Nonfiction / Photographic essay (collaboration)

A collaboration with photographer Peter Brown documenting the High Plains through photographs and text.

land and memoryregional landscape

Bibliography

  • The Tie That Binds (1984)
  • Where You Once Belonged (1990)
  • Plainsong (1999)
  • Eventide (2005)
  • West of Last Chance / High Plains (2008)
  • Benediction (2013)
  • Our Souls at Night (2015)

Adaptations

  • Plainsong adapted as a TV film (2004) and stage play (2008)
  • Our Souls at Night adapted as a film (2017, dir. Ritesh Batra)
  • Several works adapted for the stage by the Denver Center Theatre Company

Translations of Works

  • Plainsong (Japanese translation)
  • Our Souls at Night (Japanese translation)
  • Benediction (Japanese translation)
  • Plainsong / Our Souls at Night (Italian translations contributed to renewed popularity in Italy)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
spare, restrained proseelegant yet unadorned descriptionplainspoken narrative voice
Recurring Motifs
small-town communitybeauty of ordinary lifedeath and agingfamily and surrogate familiesgoodness and responsibility

Health

  • Cleft lip (congenital)
    幼少期
    Underwent surgery in childhood; early experience may have informed his empathy in character portrayals
  • Interstitial lung disease (diagnosed 2014)
    2014年 - 2014年（最終）
    Diagnosed incurable in early 2014; wrote his final novel while ill and died later that year from the condition.

Legacy

Widely regarded as one of Colorado's finest novelists for his spare, humane portrayals of small-town life. Praised for universal insight and quiet prose; translations and adaptations have sustained and expanded his readership after his death.

Archives

  • The Huntington Library (holds Kent Haruf's papers and drafts)

In Popular Culture

  • Plainsong gained wider recognition through a TV film (2004) and stage adaptations
  • Our Souls at Night film (2017), starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, attracted international attention
  • Reappraised in Italy after translations, becoming a bestseller there

Quotes

  • In an interview he said, "I can fumble my way through interviews—but I'd much rather leave myself out of it... I prefer to be anonymous."
    Source: Interview cited in The New York Times (1999)
  • In essays he wrote that he wanted to achieve "what Chekhov did, to show the beauty and the significance of ordinary people and ordinary moments."
    Source: Granta (essay) (2014)

Trivia

  • Wrote using a manual typewriter.
  • For Plainsong he would obscure his eyes and produce a stream-of-consciousness first draft, then add punctuation in later drafts.
  • Served in the Peace Corps teaching English in Turkey.
  • Had surgery for a cleft lip as a child.