William Kennedy (author)
Encyclopedia
William Joseph Kennedy is an American
writer
and journalist
born and raised in Albany, New York
. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional Irish-American Phelan family, and make use of incidents of Albany's history and the supernatural. Kennedy's works include The Ink Truck (1969), Legs
(1975), Billy Phelan's Greatest Game
(1978), Ironweed
(1983, winner of 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
; film, 1987), and Roscoe
(2002). In 2011, he published Changó's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes, which one reviewer called, a book "written with such brio and encompassing humanity that it may well deserve to be called the best of the bunch."
He is a graduate of Siena College
in Loudonville, New York
and currently resides at Averill Park, a hamlet
about 16 miles east of Albany. After serving in the Army, Kennedy lived in Puerto Rico
where he met his mentor, Saul Bellow
, who encouraged him to write novels. While living in San Juan
, he befriended journalist/author Hunter S. Thompson
, a friendship that continued throughout their careers. Kennedy, who had been eager to leave Albany, returned to his hometown and worked for the Albany Times Union as an investigative journalist writing stories exposing activities of the O'Connell political machine. His use of Albany as the setting for eight of his novels was described in 2011 by book critic Jonathan Yardley as painting "a portrait of a single city perhaps unique in American fiction."
In 2001, Kennedy received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. The Helmerich Award
is presented annually by the Tulsa Library Trust
.
He has written a non-fictional account of Albany titled O Albany!.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
born and raised in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. Many of his novels feature the interaction of members of the fictional Irish-American Phelan family, and make use of incidents of Albany's history and the supernatural. Kennedy's works include The Ink Truck (1969), Legs
Legs (novel)
Legs is a 1975 novel by William Kennedy. It is the first book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle.-Plot summary:The book chronicles the life of the gangster Jack 'Legs' Diamond. It is told from the perspective of Jack's lawyer, Marcus Gorman...
(1975), Billy Phelan's Greatest Game
Billy Phelan's Greatest Game
Billy Phelan's Greatest Game is a 1978 novel by William Kennedy. It is the second book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle.- Adaptations :In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, narrated by Nick Sullivan, as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks....
(1978), Ironweed
Ironweed
Ironweed is a 1983 novel by William Kennedy. It received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is the third book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle...
(1983, winner of 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
; film, 1987), and Roscoe
Roscoe (novel)
Roscoe is a novel by William Kennedy which was published in 2002, and depicts an aging politician who is a key behind-the-scenes player in Albany, New York's Democratic Party machine...
(2002). In 2011, he published Changó's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes, which one reviewer called, a book "written with such brio and encompassing humanity that it may well deserve to be called the best of the bunch."
He is a graduate of Siena College
Siena College
Siena College is an independent Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Loudonville, in the town of Colonie, New York, United States. Siena is a four-year, coeducational, independent college in the Franciscan tradition, founded by the Franciscan Friars in 1937. It has 3,000 full-time students and...
in Loudonville, New York
Loudonville, New York
Loudonville is a hamlet in the town of Colonie, in Albany County, New York, United States. Loudonville was a census-designated place in the 1970, 1980, and 1990 US Census, but ceased to be in the 2000 Census.The area is not precisely defined...
and currently resides at Averill Park, a hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
about 16 miles east of Albany. After serving in the Army, Kennedy lived in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
where he met his mentor, Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
, who encouraged him to write novels. While living in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, he befriended journalist/author Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
, a friendship that continued throughout their careers. Kennedy, who had been eager to leave Albany, returned to his hometown and worked for the Albany Times Union as an investigative journalist writing stories exposing activities of the O'Connell political machine. His use of Albany as the setting for eight of his novels was described in 2011 by book critic Jonathan Yardley as painting "a portrait of a single city perhaps unique in American fiction."
In 2001, Kennedy received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. The Helmerich Award
Helmerich Award
The Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award is an American literary prize awarded by the Tulsa Library Trust in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is bestowed annually upon an "internationally acclaimed" author who has "written a distinguished body of work and made a major contribution to the field of...
is presented annually by the Tulsa Library Trust
Tulsa City-County Library
The Tulsa City-County Library is the major public library system in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.-Overview:The library system serves those who live, work, go to school in, own land in, or pay property taxes on land in Tulsa County. There are 25 branches in the system: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,...
.
He has written a non-fictional account of Albany titled O Albany!.
The Albany Cycle
- LegsLegs (novel)Legs is a 1975 novel by William Kennedy. It is the first book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle.-Plot summary:The book chronicles the life of the gangster Jack 'Legs' Diamond. It is told from the perspective of Jack's lawyer, Marcus Gorman...
. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1975. - Billy Phelan's Greatest GameBilly Phelan's Greatest GameBilly Phelan's Greatest Game is a 1978 novel by William Kennedy. It is the second book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle.- Adaptations :In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, narrated by Nick Sullivan, as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks....
. New York: Viking Press, 1978. - IronweedIronweedIronweed is a 1983 novel by William Kennedy. It received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is the third book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle...
. New York: Viking Press, 1983. - Quinn's Book. New York: Viking Press, 1988.
- Very Old Bones. New York: Viking Press, 1992.
- The Flaming Corsage. New York: Viking Press, 1996.
- RoscoeRoscoe (novel)Roscoe is a novel by William Kennedy which was published in 2002, and depicts an aging politician who is a key behind-the-scenes player in Albany, New York's Democratic Party machine...
. New York: Viking Press, 2002. - Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes. New York: Viking Adult, 2011.
Nonfiction
- O Albany!: Improbable City of Political Wizards, Fearless Ethnics, Spectacular Aristocrats, Splendid Nobodies, and Underrated Scoundrels. New York: Viking Press, 1983.
- The Making of Ironweed. New York: Viking Penguin, 1988.
- Riding the Yellow Trolley Car. New York: Viking Press, 1993.
Screenplays
- The Cotton ClubThe Cotton Club (film)The Cotton Club is a 1984 crime-drama, centered on a famed Harlem jazz club of the 1930s, the Cotton Club.The movie was co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, choreographed by Henry LeTang, and starred Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Gregory Hines...
. Co-authored with Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
. New York: St. Martin's PressSt. Martin's PressSt. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
, 1986. - IronweedIronweedIronweed is a 1983 novel by William Kennedy. It received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is the third book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle...
. Tri-Star, 1987.
Plays
- Grand View. Premiered at Capital Repertory TheatreCapital Repertory TheatreCapital Repertory Theatre is a 287-seat professional regional theatre in Albany, New York. Capital Rep is the only theatre in the Capital District in the League of Resident Theatres . The theatre operates under regulations dictated by Actors' Equity Association. The theatre is located at 111 N...
, Albany, NY, 1996. - In the System. HumaniTech* Short Play Project Premiere, University at Albany, March 2003.
Children's books
- Charlie Malarkey and the Belly Button Machine (co-authored with Brendan Kennedy). New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986.
- Charlie Malarkey and the Singing Moose (co-authored with Brendan Kennedy). New York: Viking Children's Books, 1994.
Criticism
- Flanagan, Thomas. O Albany!. New York Review of Books. April 25, 2002
- Giamo, Benedict F. The Homeless of Ironweed: Blossoms on the Crag. Iowa City: University of Iowa PressUniversity of Iowa PressThe University of Iowa Press is a university press that is part of the University of Iowa.Established in 1969, the University of Iowa Press publishes books that fill the needs of scholars and students throughout the world, poetry and short fiction, and works of creative nonfiction...
, 1997. - Gillespie, Michael Patrick. Reading William Kennedy. Syracuse: Syracuse University PressSyracuse University PressSyracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. The areas of focus for the Press include Middle East Studies, Native American Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Irish Studies and Jewish Studies, among others. The Press has an international...
. - Lynch, Vivian Valvano. Portraits of Artists: Warriors in the Novels of William Kennedy. Bethesda: International Scholars Publications, 1999.
- Mallon, Thomas. William Kennedy's Greatest Game. The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
. February 2002. - Seshachari, Neila C. Courtesans, Stars, Wives, $ Vixens: The Many Faces of Female Power in Kennedy's Novels, AWP Conference, Albany, NY. April 17, 1999.
- Marowski, Daniel G. and Matur, Roger, editors. "William Kennedy." Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 53, Detroit: Gale Research, 1989, pp. 189–201.
- Michener, Christian. From Then into Now: William Kennedy's Albany Novels. University of Scranton PressUniversity of Scranton PressThe University of Scranton Press is the university press of the University of Scranton, headquartered on its campus in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Press published more than 200 books and other publications between 1988 and 2010...
, 1998. - Reilly, Edward C. Twayne's United States Authors Series: William Kennedy. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991.
- Van Dover, J. K. Understanding William Kennedy. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina PressUniversity of South Carolina PressThe University of South Carolina Press , founded in 1944, is a university press that is part of the University of South Carolina.-External links:*...
, 1991. - Seshachari, Neila C., editor. Conversations with William Kennedy. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1997.
External links
- Finding Aid for the Papers of William Kennedy,
- Audio recording of William Kennedy reading from unpublished works at the Key West Literary Seminar, 2009
- Write TV Public Television Interview with William Kennedy,
- M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University at Albany Libraries.
- New York State Writers Institute Biography of Kennedy, University at Albany.