Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism
Encyclopedia
The Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism is awarded for literary criticism
by the University of Iowa
on behalf of the Truman Capote
Estate. The value of the award is $30,000 (USD), and is said to be the largest annual cash prize for literary criticism in the English language. The formal name of the prize is the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin, commemorating not only Capote but also his friend Newton Arvin
, a distinguished critic and Smith College
professor until he lost his job after his homosexuality
was exposed.
Past recipients:
The Truman Capote Literary Trust also established a lifetime achievement award, worth $100,000, and administered through the Stanford University
Creative Writing Program. It has been awarded to Alfred Kazin
(1996) and George Steiner
(1998). The Truman Capote Literary Trust was established in 1994 (after the death of Capote's longtime companion Jack Dunphy
) by Capote's executor, Alan U. Schwartz, pursuant to Capote's will. It also funds a variety of fellowships and scholarships, all financed by the continuing royalties and revenues from Capote's literary works.
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
by the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
on behalf of the Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
Estate. The value of the award is $30,000 (USD), and is said to be the largest annual cash prize for literary criticism in the English language. The formal name of the prize is the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin, commemorating not only Capote but also his friend Newton Arvin
Newton Arvin
Newton Arvin was an American literary critic and academic. He achieved national recognition for his studies of individual nineteenth-century American authors....
, a distinguished critic and Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
professor until he lost his job after his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
was exposed.
Past recipients:
- 2011 Mark McGurlMark McGurlMark McGurl is an American literary critic specializing in 20th century American literature. He is currently a Professor of English at Stanford University.-Background:...
- The Program Era: Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing - 2010 Seth LererSeth LererProfessor Seth Lerer is Dean of Arts and Humanities and Distinguished Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego. He had previously held the Avalon Foundation Professorship in Humanities at Stanford University...
- Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to Harry Potter - 2009 Geoffrey HillGeoffrey HillGeoffrey Hill is an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University. Hill has been considered to be among the most distinguished poets of his generation...
- Collected Critical Writings - 2008 Helen SmallHelen Small-Biography:Helen W. Small was awarded a B.A. in English from Victoria University of Wellington and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. She was the recipient of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship from 2001 to 2004.-Published works:...
- The Long Life - 2007 William H. GassWilliam H. GassWilliam Howard Gass is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and former philosophy professor. He has written two novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven volumes of essays, three of which have won National Book Critics Circle Award...
- A Temple of Texts - 2006 Geoffrey HartmanGeoffrey HartmanGeoffrey H. Hartman is a German-born American literary theorist, sometimes identified with the Yale School of deconstruction, but also has written on a wide range of subjects, and cannot be categorized by a single school or method.-Biography:...
and Daniel T. O'Hara - The Geoffrey Hartman Reader - 2005 Angus Fletcher - A New Theory for American Poetry
- 2004 Susan Stewart - Poetry and the Fate of the Senses
- 2003 Seamus HeaneySeamus HeaneySeamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
- Finders Keepers: Selected Prose, 1971-2001 - 2002 Declan KiberdDeclan KiberdDeclan Kiberd is an Irish writer and scholar. He is known for his literary criticism of Irish literature in Irish and English, and his contributions to public cultural life....
- Irish Classics - 2001 Malcolm BowieMalcolm BowieMalcolm McNaughtan Bowie FBA was a British academic, and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge from 2002 to 2006. An acclaimed scholar of French literature, Bowie wrote several books on Marcel Proust....
- Proust Among the Stars - 2000 Elaine ScarryElaine ScarryElaine Scarry , a professor of English and American Literature and Language, is the Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value at Harvard University...
- Dreaming by the Book and Philip FisherPhilip FisherPhilip Fisher may refer to:* Philip Fisher , a.k.a. Thomas Copley, English religious leader* Philip Arthur Fisher , entrepreneur & author* Philip "Fish" Fisher , American musician, member of band Fishbone...
- Still the New World: American Literature in a Culture of Creative Destruction - 1999 Charles RosenCharles RosenCharles Rosen is an American pianist and author on music.-Life and career:In his youth he studied piano with Moriz Rosenthal. Rosenthal, born in 1862, had been a student of Franz Liszt...
- Romantic Poets, Critics, and Other Madmen - 1998 John Kerrigan - Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddon
- 1997 John Felstiner - Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew
- 1996 Helen VendlerHelen VendlerHelen Hennessy Vendler is a leading American critic of poetry.-Life and career:Vendler has written books on Emily Dickinson, W. B. Yeats, Wallace Stevens, John Keats, and Seamus Heaney. She has been a professor of English at Harvard University since 1984; between 1981 and 1984 she taught...
- The Given and the Made: Strategies of Poetic Redefintion
The Truman Capote Literary Trust also established a lifetime achievement award, worth $100,000, and administered through the Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
Creative Writing Program. It has been awarded to Alfred Kazin
Alfred Kazin
Alfred Kazin was an American writer and literary critic, many of whose writings depicted the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America....
(1996) and George Steiner
George Steiner
Francis George Steiner, FBA , is an influential European-born American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, translator, and educator. He has written extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the impact of the Holocaust...
(1998). The Truman Capote Literary Trust was established in 1994 (after the death of Capote's longtime companion Jack Dunphy
Jack Dunphy
Jack Dunphy was an American novelist and playwright, perhaps best known today for his long-term relationship with American author Truman Capote.-Early life and dance career:...
) by Capote's executor, Alan U. Schwartz, pursuant to Capote's will. It also funds a variety of fellowships and scholarships, all financed by the continuing royalties and revenues from Capote's literary works.