Richard Powers

American novelist

Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist. His writing often shows the ways modern science and technology make life different.[1]

Richard Powers
Powers reading in April 2018
Powers reading in April 2018
Born (1957-06-18) June 18, 1957 (age 67)
Evanston, Illinois, US
OccupationWriter, professor of English
Period1985–present (as writer)
GenreLiterary novels
Website
www.richardpowers.net

Powers was born in Evanston, Illinois. His father was a high school principal. As a boy he lived in Bangkok, Thailand for five years while his father worked at the International School. In 1975 he went to college at the University of Illinois. He started studying physics but changed to English. He finished a masters degree in 1979. He moved to Boston in 1980 to do computer programming. One day, at Boston's Museum of Fine Art, he saw a photo by August Sander of three young men. In two days he quit his job and started writing his first novel, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance. That book was praised by many reviewers.[2][3]

Powers received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1989.[4] In 2006 his novel The Echo Maker won the National Book Award.[5] The Overstory won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2019.[6] As of 2023, Powers has written thirteen novels.

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

References

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  1. Birkerts, Sven; Powers, Richard (1998). "Richard Powers". BOMB (64): 62–63. ISSN 0743-3204.
  2. "Biography". Richard Powers. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  3. "Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance". Richard Powers. 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  4. "Richard Powers". www.macfound.org. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  5. "The Echo Maker". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  6. "The Overstory, by Richard Powers (W.W. Norton)". The Pulitzer Prizes. 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.