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Richard Powers

リチャード・パワーズ

Richādo Pawāzu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1957-06-18 （Evanston, Illinois, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Evanston, Illinois → Lincolnwood, Illinois → Bangkok, Thailand → Boston, Massachusetts → Netherlands (residence) → University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (residence/teaching) → Stanford University (visiting positions)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Professor of English, Writer
Active Years
1985-
Affiliations
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (Swanlund Professor, emeritus), Stanford University (Stein Visiting Writer; Phil and Penny Knight Professor of Creative Writing)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow)
Influenced By
August Sander (photography inspired his debut novel), Science and technology (thematic influence)
Influenced
Contemporary writers of environmental and science-minded fiction
Nominations
2014 Man Booker Prize longlist (Orfeo), 2018 Man Booker Prize shortlist (The Overstory), 2021 Booker Prize shortlist (Bewilderment), 2024 Booker Prize longlist (Playground), 2021 National Book Award longlist (Bewilderment)

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
English literature
Degree: BA
Period: 1975–1978
Year of Graduation: 1978
Country: United States
Switched major from physics to English literature
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
English literature
Degree: MA
Period: 1978–1980
Year of Graduation: 1980
Country: United States
Earned an MA; did not pursue a PhD.

Awards

National Book Award for Fiction
2006
Work: The Echo Maker
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Winner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2019
Work: The Overstory
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: Winner
MacArthur Fellowship
1989
Organization: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Result: Fellowship
James Fenimore Cooper Prize
1999
Work: Gain
Organization: Society of American Historians
Result: Winner
Rosenthal Award (American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters)
1985
Organization: American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Result: Winner
PEN/Hemingway Award (Special Citation)
1985
Work: Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance
Organization: PEN America
Result: Special Citation
Lannan Literary Award
1999
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: Winner
William Dean Howells Medal
2020
Work: The Overstory
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance

1985 Literary novel

Debut novel inspired by a 1914 photograph: interweaves the lives of three young men from the photo, a technology magazine editor obsessed with the image, and reflections on photography and history.

photographyhistorymemory

The Gold Bug Variations

1991 Literary novel

A novel about genetics, music, and computer science that explores codes and patterns across intertwined lives.

geneticsmusicintersection of science and art

The Echo Maker

2006 Literary novel

Centers on a Nebraska man who, after a truck accident, believes his caregiver sister is an impostor; explores cognition and identity.

neuroscienceidentityfamily

Orfeo

2014 Literary novel

About a retired music composition instructor mistaken for a bioterrorist after being found with a makeshift genetics lab at home; examines art, science, and ethics.

musicscience and ethicsaging

The Overstory

2018 Environmental fiction / Literary novel

Follows nine Americans whose varied experiences with trees bring them together to confront forest destruction; themes include nature, time, and collective action.

environmenttreescommunity

Bewilderment

2021 Literary novel

Centers on an astrobiologist father and his troubled son; a moving exploration of parenthood, science, and environmental concern.

parent-child relationshipscienceenvironmental ethics

Playground

2024 Literary novel

Published in 2024; mixes autobiographical elements with broader social themes. See publisher materials for details.

contemporary societyindividual and memory

Bibliography

  • Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance (1985)
  • Prisoner's Dilemma (1988)
  • The Gold Bug Variations (1991)
  • Operation Wandering Soul (1993)
  • Galatea 2.2 (1995)
  • Gain (1998)
  • Plowing the Dark (2000)
  • The Time of Our Singing (2003)
  • The Echo Maker (2006)
  • Generosity: An Enhancement (2009)
  • Orfeo (2014)
  • The Overstory (2018)
  • Bewilderment (2021)
  • Playground (2024)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Literary style that examines the effects of science and technology on human lifeIntellectual, wide-ranging narrative approach
Recurring Motifs
science and technologymusicphotographytrees and naturememory and identity

Legacy

Richard Powers is internationally acclaimed for integrating science, technology, and environmental concerns into literary fiction. With major awards for works such as The Overstory and The Echo Maker, he is a significant voice in contemporary American literature.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Archives

  • University of Illinois related archives

Trivia

  • Learned computer programming as a user of PLATO while at university.
  • Worked as a programmer in Boston before quitting to write after being inspired by a photograph in a museum.
  • Has musical experience on cello, guitar, saxophone, and clarinet.
  • Lived in Bangkok, Thailand during adolescence and had formative multicultural experiences.