John Gardner (American writer)

John Champlin Gardner Jr. (July 21, 1933 – September 14, 1982) was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor. He was known for his novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth from the monster's point of view.

John Gardner
Gardner in 1977
Born	John Champlin Gardner Jr. (1933-07-21)July 21, 1933 Batavia, New York
Died	September 14, 1982(1982-09-14) (aged 49) Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
Occupation	Novelist essayist literary critic professor
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	Washington University in St. Louis, University of Iowa
Notable works	The Sunlight Dialogues, On Moral Fiction, Grendel
Spouses	Joan Louise Patterson (1953–1980), Liz Rosenberg (1980–1982)
Partner	Susan Thornton

Gardner was killed in a motorcycle accident in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, aged 49.

Works

Fiction

• The Resurrection, 1966.
• The Wreckage of Agathon, 1970.
• Grendel, 1971.
• The Sunlight Dialogues, 1972.
• Jason and Medeia, 1973.
• Nickel Mountain: A Pastoral Novel, 1973.
• The King's Indian, 1974.
• October Light, 1976.
• In the Suicide Mountains, 1977.
• Freddy's Book, 1980.
• The Art of Living and Other Stories, 1981.
• Mickelsson's Ghosts, 1982.
• Stillness and Shadows, 1986.

Biography

• The Life and Times of Chaucer, 1977.

Children's stories

• Dragon, Dragon (and Other Tales), 1975.
• Gudgekin The Thistle Girl (and Other Tales), 1976.
• The King of the Hummingbirds (and Other Tales), 1977.
• A Child's Bestiary, 1977.

Criticism and Instruction

• The Forms of Fiction, 1962.
• The Construction of the Wakefield Cycle, 1974.
• The Poetry of Chaucer, 1977.
• On Moral Fiction, 1978.
• On Becoming a Novelist, 1983.
• The Art of Fiction, 1983.
• On Writers and Writing, 1994.

Translation

• The Complete Works of the Gawain Poet, 1965.
• The Alliterative Morte Arthure and Other Middle English Poems, 1971.
• Tengu Child (with Nobuko Tsukui), 1983.
• Gilgamesh (with John Maier, Richard A. Henshaw), 1984.

Other websites

• "The Arch and the Abyss: A John C. Gardner Resource". Genesee Community College. April 9, 2007. Archived from the original on May 9, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
• Paul F. Ferguson, John R. Maier, Sara Matthiessen, Frank McConnell (Spring 1979). "John Gardner, The Art of Fiction No. 73". The Paris Review. Spring 1979 (75).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• "Audio Interview with John C. Gardner" Archived 2011-01-02 at the Wayback Machine, Wired for Books
• "Thirty years Later: A Conversation on John Gardner (with Joel Gardner). March 2012. [1] Archived 2013-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
• Audio interview of John Gardner by Stephen Banker, circa 1978