World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Mark Richard

マーク・リチャード

Māku Richādo

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Texas (grew up) → Virginia (grew up) → Los Angeles, California (residence)

Career

Occupations
author, novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, poet, journalist
Active Years
1980-
Affiliations
University of California, Irvine (writer-in-residence), University of Mississippi (writer-in-residence), Arizona State University (writer-in-residence), The Writer's Voice (New York), Sewanee (University of the South, writer-in-residence)

Education

Washington and Lee University
Country: United States

Awards

PEN/Ernest Hemingway Award
1990
Work: The Ice at the Bottom of the World
Organization: PEN
Result: winner
Whiting Award
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: winner
National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: fellowship
New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship
Organization: New York Foundation
Result: fellowship
Mary Francis Hobson Medal for Arts and Letters
Result: recipient
National Magazine Award for Fiction
Organization: National Magazine Awards
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Ice at the Bottom of the World

short story collection

A short story collection reflecting the American South, family, and religious influence; often draws on the author's childhood experiences and social tensions.

American Southfaithfamilypovertyalienation

Charity

short story collection

Another collection of short stories that probe religious fervor and the inner lives of marginalized characters.

faithhidden sufferingcommunity

Fishboy

novel

A bestselling novel centered on characters from the American South, depicting coming-of-age and self-discovery.

coming-of-ageidentityfamily

House of Prayer No. 2: A Writer's Journey Home

memoir / non-fiction

A memoir in which the author reflects on his childhood—poverty, physical disability, religious background, and racial tensions in the South—and how these shaped his life and writing.

memorydisabilityreligionrace

Bibliography

  • The Ice at the Bottom of the World
  • Charity
  • Fishboy
  • House of Prayer No. 2: A Writer's Journey Home

Adaptations

  • Film 'Stop-Loss' (screenwriter)
  • TV mini-series 'The Good Lord Bird' (co-creator, writer)
  • Television writing: 'Chicago Hope', 'The Man in the High Castle', 'Fear the Walking Dead', 'Hell on Wheels'

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Southern Gothic influencesstylistic emphasis on religious and spiritual depictionpoetic metaphors and concentrated narration in short fiction
Recurring Motifs
faith and places of worshippoverty and marginalizationphysical disability and embodied experiencefamily breakdown and renewal

Health

  • congenital hip deformity
    幼少期〜青年期
    Repeated hospitalizations in childhood; physical limitations influenced his development, self-perception, and themes in his work.

Legacy

Mark Richard is an award-winning author known for short stories and novels that weave the American South, faith, poverty, and physical disability; he is also active as a screenwriter. His work is valued for its literary illumination of Southern social tensions.

In Popular Culture

  • The mini-series 'The Good Lord Bird', which he co-created and wrote, drew attention starring Ethan Hawke.

Trivia

  • Born in 1955 (exact birthdate not clearly public).
  • Born with a hip deformity and experienced repeated hospitalizations in childhood.
  • Won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Award for 'The Ice at the Bottom of the World'.
  • Worked as a screenwriter on the film 'Stop-Loss' (2008) and has written/produced for several television series.
  • Lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jennifer Allen and their three sons.