World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

William S. Penn

ウィリアム・エス・ペン

William S. Penn

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1949-01-01 （United States (specific birthplace unknown)）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Western United States (raised) → England (residence) → New York (South Bronx, worked) → East Lansing, Michigan (residence)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Professor of English, Essayist
Active Years
1975-
Affiliations
State University of New York at Oswego (former), Hostos Community College (South Bronx, former), Michigan State University (faculty)

Education

University of California, Davis
Country: United States
Syracuse University
Country: United States

Awards

Stephen Crane Prize for Fiction
Organization: Stephen Crane Prize organization
Result: 受賞（2回）
Yaddo Fellowship
Work: The Absence of Angels (work in progress)
Organization: Yaddo Writers' Colony
Result: フェローシップ
Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grant
1985
Organization: Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation
Result: 助成
New York Foundation for the Arts Prize
1988
Organization: New York Foundation for the Arts
Result: 受賞
Michigan Council on the Arts grant
1990
Work: The Absence of Angels (support)
Organization: Michigan Council on the Arts
Result: 助成
Banff Centre for the Arts Resident Writer
1991
Organization: Banff Centre for the Arts
Result: レジデンシー
North American Indian Prose Award
1994
Work: All My Sins Are Relatives
Organization: University of Nebraska Press
Result: 受賞
Critic's Choice Award (Most Acclaimed Books)
1996
Work: All My Sins Are Relatives
Organization: Critic's Choice
Result: 受賞
Wordcraft Circle - Native American Writer of the Year (Non-fiction)
1997
Organization: Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers
Result: 受賞
Wordcraft Circle - Native American Editor of the Year
1998
Organization: Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers
Result: 受賞
Best University Press Books list
2000
Work: The Telling of the World: Native American Stories and Art
Organization: University Press selectors
Result: 選出
American Book Award (Literary Merit)
Organization: American Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Michigan State University Distinguished Faculty Award
Organization: Michigan State University
Result: 受賞
Wordcraft Circle - Writer of the Year (Creative Prose: Fiction)
2002
Work: Feathering Custer
Organization: Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Absence of Angels

Fiction

A novel exploring urban mixed-blood identity and family. Worked on during a Yaddo fellowship; publication details vary by source.

mixed-blood identityfamilycultural dislocation and continuity

Killing Time with Strangers

Fiction

A collection containing short fiction, depicting urban life and interpersonal relationships.

urban lifelonelinessencounters and partings

This is the World

Fiction

A short-story collection addressing worldviews and cultural differences.

cultural contrastidentity

The Telling of the World: Native American Stories and Art (ed.)

Anthology (editor)

An edited collection of Native American stories and art; selected among notable university press books.

Native storiesoral traditionvisual art

All My Sins Are Relatives

1994 Essays / Non-fiction

An essay collection on experiences as a mixed-blood person, family, memory, and cultural inheritance. Winner of the North American Indian Prose Award.

mixed-blood selfhoodfamily narrativescultural survival

As We Are Now: Mixblood Essays on Race and Identity (ed. & contributor)

Essays / Edited volume

An edited volume collecting essays on mixblood experiences, examining race and identity.

raceidentitymixblood

Feathering Custer

Non-fiction / Essays

An essay collection incorporating historical topics and Native perspectives; awarded by the Wordcraft Circle in 2002.

historyNative perspectivesmemory and storytelling

Bibliography

  • The Absence of Angels
  • Killing Time with Strangers
  • This is the World
  • The Telling of the World: Native American Stories and Art (ed.)
  • All My Sins Are Relatives
  • As We Are Now: Mixblood Essays on Race and Identity (ed. & contributor)
  • Feathering Custer

Style & Themes

Literary Style
use of oral-tradition narrative voiceinterplay of humor and critical perspectiveessayistic approach centered on mixed-blood experience
Recurring Motifs
family (grandfathers, children)storytelling and transmissionurban vs. rural contrastscultural survival and inheritance

Legacy

William S. Penn is known for works addressing mixed-blood identity and Native American narratives. As a writer and educator he has received multiple awards and fellowships, and has contributed to mentoring through his teaching at Michigan State University.

Academic Societies

  • Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers (awarded/associated)
  • Native Writers' Circle of the Americas (associated)

Quotes

  • “I write to amuse and entertain, but I write from a center I take seriously, a center given to me by my grandfather, encouraged by my sisters, and nurtured by my wife and by my daughter and son with whom I tell stories. Indeed, All My Sins Are Relatives is dedicated 'For Grandfather, who knows / And Rachel and Willy, so they may.' Thus, I would say that much of my work is so they—the children, not just my own—may know my attempt to bridge the gap between the urban mixblood and Euramerican worlds to which I belong.”
    Source: All My Sins Are Relatives (dedication/preface) (1994)

Trivia

  • He is an urban mix-blood with Nez Perce ancestry.
  • Has lived in England and various regions across the United States.
  • In 2013 he drew controversy for remarks in a class criticizing Republicans and was temporarily removed from teaching.
  • Lives in East Lansing with his wife Jennifer and children Rachel Antonia and William Anthony.