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Styron, William

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1925–2006, American novelist, b. Newport News, Va., grad. Duke, 1947. His fiction is often powerful, deeply felt, poetic, and elegiac. He became well known for his novel The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967; Pulitzer Prize), a fictional recreation of the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia led by Nat Turner . Because Styron's account does not strictly adhere to historical fact and because he was a white man depicting a black man's experiences, the novel elicited harsh criticism, especially from African-American intellectuals. Styron's other novels include Lie Down in Darkness (1951), Set This House on Fire (1960), and the best-selling Sophie's Choice (1979; film, 1982), the post–World War II tale of a Polish emigré living in Brooklyn, N.Y., and struggling with her haunting history as an Auschwitz survivor. Styron also wrote short stories, novellas, a screenplay, and a play; A Tidewater Morning: Three Tales from Youth (1993) is a trilogy of autobiographical novellas. Darkness Visible: A…
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Full text Article Styron, William

From Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature
When his mother died in 1938, S.'s father sent him to Christchurch, an Episcopalian preparatory school attended by Tidewater, Virginia's gentry class. S.'s literary apprenticeship was twice interrupted by war. After spending his freshman year at Davidson College, S. joined the marine corps in 1943. …
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Full text Article Styron

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary Full text Article Biographical Names
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Full text Article Sophie's Choice

From Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable
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(b. 1925–d. 2006) American novelist, memoirist “Confess, that all nations may know,” he repeated beneath his breath, the pen scratching away. “And what else?” he said, looking up. ‘Then the Lord told me: Confess, that thy acts may be known to all men.’“ —The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967) William…
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Full text Article Styron, William

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
(born June 11, 1925, Newport News, Va., U.S.—died Nov. 1, 2006, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.) U.S. novelist. Educated at Duke University, Styron served in the U.S. Marine Corps and became part of the American expatriate community in Paris in the 1950s. His first novel, Lie Down in Darkness (1951), tells…
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Full text Article Styron, William

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1925–2006, American novelist, b. Newport News, Va., grad. Duke, 1947. His fiction is often powerful, deeply felt, poetic, and elegiac. He became well known for his novel The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967; Pulitzer Prize), a fictional recreation of the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia led by Nat…
| 300 words
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Full text Article Styron, William Clark

From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
1925-2006 US novelist Born in Newport News, Virginia, he graduated from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 1947. His first novel, Lie Down in Darkness , appeared in 1951. Set This House on Fire (1960) portrayed Americans in Europe after the war and was hugely successful in France. Unafraid…
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Full text Article Howells Medal

From Encyclopedia of American Literature Full text Article Volume 4
Established in 1925, the William Dean Howells Medal is awarded every five years by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and is selected by a separate committee drawn from the existing Academy membership. The Howells Medal was named in honor of a leading figure of American Realism, novelist…
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Full text Article Darkness Visible (1990)

From 50 Classics Series: 50 Psychology Classics
“In rereading, for the first time in years, sequences from my novels—passages where my heroines have lurched down the pathways towards doom—I was stunned to perceive how accurately I had created the landscape of depression in the minds of these young women… Thus depression, when it finally came to…
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Full text Article Southern US fiction

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Part of a long tradition of fiction and belles lettres in the US South since Edgar Allan Poe , often distinctively different from other US fiction. In the 20th century, a remarkable literary revival began, exemplified by the work of Ellen Glasgow and William Faulkner , dealing with the experience of…
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