William Kent Krueger
Encyclopedia
William Kent Krueger is a multi award-winning American
author
and crime writer, best known for his Cork O'Connor series of books, which is mainly set in Minnesota. USA. In 2005 and 2006, he won back to back Anthony Award
s for best novel - a feat only matched by one other writer since the award's inception.
He attended Stanford University
but his academic path was cut short when he came into conflict with the university's administration during student protests of spring 1970.
He wrote short stories and sketches for many years, but it was not until the age of 40 that he finished the manuscript of his first novel, Iron Lake. A book which went on to win the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, the Barry Award for Best First Novel, the Minnesota Book Award, and the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award.
William Kent Krueger lives with his wife and family in St. Paul, Minnesota.
and cites American prose as the main influence on his writing. He grew up reading Ernest Hemingway
, John Steinbeck
, F. Scott Fitzgerald
, and James T. Farrell
. Most influential among these was Ernest Hemingway. In an interview for Shots magazine, Krueger describes his admiration for Hemingway's prose, "His prose is clean, his word choice perfect, his cadence precise and powerful. He wastes nothing. In Hemingway, what’s not said is often the whole point of a story. I like that idea, leaving the heart off the page so that the words, the prose itself, is the first thing to pierce you. Then the meaning comes." As a genre writer, Krueger credits Tony Hillerman
and James Lee Burke
as his strongest influences.
He began going to the broiler in his 30s when he had to make time for writing early in the morning before going to work at the University of Minnesota. But the habit continues today, and he now has his own booth there.
In return for his loyalty, the broiler has hosted book launches for Krueger, and at one, staff wore T-shirts emblazoned with "A nice place to visit. A great place to die."
He began by reading the early ethnographers, William Whipple Warren
and Francis Densmore, then read works by Gerald Vizenor
and Basil Johnson, and the stories of Louise Erdrich
and Jim Northrup
. Krueger then began to meet and get to know the Ojibwe people and remains fascinated by their culture.
The descriptions of locations in Krueger's novels often reflect character's feelings. Krueger believes that the sense of place is made resonant by the actions and emotions of the characters within it. He describes it as "a dynamic bond that has the potential to heighten the drama of every scene."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and crime writer, best known for his Cork O'Connor series of books, which is mainly set in Minnesota. USA. In 2005 and 2006, he won back to back Anthony Award
Anthony Award
The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
s for best novel - a feat only matched by one other writer since the award's inception.
Biographical details
William Kent Krueger has stated that he dates his desire to be a writer back to the third grade, when a story he wrote called The Walking Dictionary was so well received by teachers and parents that he was inspired by their praise. Throughout an early life that saw him logging timber, digging ditches, working in construction, and being published as a freelance journalist, he never stopped writing.He attended 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...
but his academic path was cut short when he came into conflict with the university's administration during student protests of spring 1970.
He wrote short stories and sketches for many years, but it was not until the age of 40 that he finished the manuscript of his first novel, Iron Lake. A book which went on to win the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, the Barry Award for Best First Novel, the Minnesota Book Award, and the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award.
William Kent Krueger lives with his wife and family in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Writing influences
Krueger names his favourite book as To Kill A MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
and cites American prose as the main influence on his writing. He grew up reading Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
, F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
, and James T. Farrell
James T. Farrell
James Thomas Farrell was an American novelist. One of his most famous works was the Studs Lonigan trilogy, which was made into a film in 1960 and into a television miniseries in 1979...
. Most influential among these was Ernest Hemingway. In an interview for Shots magazine, Krueger describes his admiration for Hemingway's prose, "His prose is clean, his word choice perfect, his cadence precise and powerful. He wastes nothing. In Hemingway, what’s not said is often the whole point of a story. I like that idea, leaving the heart off the page so that the words, the prose itself, is the first thing to pierce you. Then the meaning comes." As a genre writer, Krueger credits Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman was an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels...
and James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke is an American author of mysteries, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won an Edgar Award for Black Cherry Blues and Cimarron Rose . The Robicheaux character has been portrayed twice on screen, first by Alec Baldwin and then Tommy Lee Jones...
as his strongest influences.
Writing process
Krueger shares Hemingway's preference for writing at first light. Rising at 5.30 am, he goes to the nearby St Clair Broiler where he drinks coffee and writes long-hand in wirebound notebooks.He began going to the broiler in his 30s when he had to make time for writing early in the morning before going to work at the University of Minnesota. But the habit continues today, and he now has his own booth there.
In return for his loyalty, the broiler has hosted book launches for Krueger, and at one, staff wore T-shirts emblazoned with "A nice place to visit. A great place to die."
Importance of location in the Cork O'Connor series
Krueger's stories always include an element of life in and around native American reservations. The main character, Cork O'Connor is part Irish, part Ojibwe. When Krueger decided to set the series in northern Minnesota, he realised that a large percentage of the population of the county he had selected as a model for the fictional Tamarack County of his books was of mixed heritage. In college, Krueger had wanted to be a cultural anthropologist and so the idea of researching the Ojibwe culture and weaving the information into the stories held great appeal for him.He began by reading the early ethnographers, William Whipple Warren
William Whipple Warren
William Whipple Warren was a mixed-blood Ojibwe historian, interpreter, and legislator in the Minnesota Territory. He moved from Wisconsin to Crow Wing in the fall of 1845. Warren suffered from lung problems for many years and died as a young man of 28 from tuberculosis on June 1, 1853.-Early life...
and Francis Densmore, then read works by Gerald Vizenor
Gerald Vizenor
Gerald Robert Vizenor is a Native American writer, and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation. One of the most prolific Native American writers, with over 30 books to his name, Vizenor also taught for many years at the University of California, Berkeley, where...
and Basil Johnson, and the stories of Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich
Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, is an author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...
and Jim Northrup
Jim Northrup (writer)
Jim Northrup is an Anishinaabe newspaper columnist, poet, performer and political commentator from the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation in Minnesota...
. Krueger then began to meet and get to know the Ojibwe people and remains fascinated by their culture.
The descriptions of locations in Krueger's novels often reflect character's feelings. Krueger believes that the sense of place is made resonant by the actions and emotions of the characters within it. He describes it as "a dynamic bond that has the potential to heighten the drama of every scene."
Awards
- Bush Artist Fellowship (1988)
- Loft-McKnight Fiction Award (1998) Iron Lake
- Minnesota Book Award (1999) Iron Lake
- Anthony AwardAnthony AwardThe Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
for Best First Novel (1999) Iron Lake - Barry AwardBarry Award (for crime novels)The Barry Award is a crime literary prize awarded annually since 1997 by the editors of Deadly Pleasures, an American quarterly publication for crime fiction readers. From 2007-2009 the award was jointly presented with the publication Mystery News...
for Best First Novel (1999) Iron Lake - Friends of American Writers Prize (1999)
- Minnesota Book Award (2002) Purgatory Ridge
- Readers Choice Award (2003)
- Anthony AwardAnthony AwardThe Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
for Best Novel (2005) Blood Hollow - Anthony AwardAnthony AwardThe Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
for Best Novel (2006) Mercy Falls - Minnesota Book Award (2007) Copper River
- Northeastern Minnesota Book Award (2007) Thunder Bay
- Dilys AwardDilys AwardThe Dilys Award have been presented every year since 1992 by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. It is given to the mystery title of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling. The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association is an association of retail businesses...
(2008) Thunder Bay - Minnesota Book Award (2008) Thunder Bay