Ernest J. Gaines (b. January 15, 1933) is a prominent African-American fiction writer and writer-in-residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his 1993 novel, A Lesson Before Dying, which did win the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. In 2004, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1120x1545, 1646 KB) [1] UL faculty promotional news This is a copyrighted image that has been released by a company or organization to promote their work or product in the media, such as advertising material or a promotional photo in a... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... This page is 88 kilobytes long. ... The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, more commonly known as UL Lafayette, Louisiana-Lafayette,or simply UL, is a coeducational public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ... A Lesson Before Dying book cover A Lesson Before Dying is Ernest J. Gaines eighth book, Published in 1994 by Vintage Contemporaries, a division of Random House Inc. ... The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American association of approximately seven hundred book reviewers. ... Nobel Prize in Literature medal. ...

Gaines was among the fifth generation of his family to be born on the River Lake Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, an influence and common setting for his fiction. He was the eldest of 12 children, raised by his aunt, who was crippled and had to crawl to get around the house. Although born generations after the end of slavery, Gaines grew up impoverished, in old slave quarters on the plantation. Pointe Coupee Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A plantation is an intentional planting of a crop, on a larger scale, usually for uses other than cereal production or pasture. ...

Gaines's first six years of school took place in the plantation church. A visiting teacher would teach him and the other children for five to six months of each year, depending on when the children were not picking cotton in the fields. Gaines's then spent three years at St. Augustine, a Catholic school for African Americans in New Roads. Pointe Coupée Parish schooling for African-American children did not continue beyond the eighth grade during his time. Cotton ready for harvest. ... New Roads is a city located in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. ...

When he was fifteen, Gaines moved to Vallejo, California to join his mother and stepfather, who had left Louisiana during World War II. His first novel was written at age 17, while babysitting his youngest brother. According to one account, he wrapped it in brown paper, tied it with string, and sent it to a New York publisher, who rejected it. Gaines burned the manuscript, but later rewrote it to become his first published novel, Catherine Carmier. Vallejo is a city in Solano County, California, United States. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead...

In 1956, Gaines published his first short story, The Turtles, in a college magazine at San Francisco State University. He earned a degree in literature in 1957 from SFSU. After spending two years in the Army, he won a writing fellowship to Stanford University. San Francisco State University is a branch of the California State University system. ... Stanford redirects here. ...

Since 1984, Gaines has spent the first half of every year in San Francisco and the second half in Lafayette, where he teaches a creative writing workshop every autumn at the University of Louisiana. 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Lafayette is a city located on the Vermilion River in Lafayette Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Creative writing is a term used to distinguish certain imaginative or different types of writing from generic writing. ...

Gaines's fiction has received critical acclaim. His works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Chinese. Four of his works have been produced into television movies.

In the spring of 2006 he crashed his car into a small general store near his second home in New Roads, Louisiana. The car had been purchased that very morning. It was after dark but Gaines does not have vision problems. He was ticketed but charges were not pressed by the store's owner, who, coincidentally, is a great fan of his works. New Roads is a city located in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. ...

Published works

Books

• Mozart and Leadbelly: Stories and Essays (2005)
• A Lesson Before Dying (1993) – National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction (1993); Oprah's Book Club (1997)
• A Gathering of Old Men (1984)
• In My Father's House (1978)
• A Long Day in November (1971)
• The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971)
• Bloodline (1968)
• Of Love and Dust (1967)
• Catherine Carmier (1964)

Short stories A Lesson Before Dying book cover A Lesson Before Dying is Ernest J. Gaines eighth book, Published in 1994 by Vintage Contemporaries, a division of Random House Inc. ... The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American association of approximately seven hundred book reviewers. ... Oprahs Book Club is a book club segment of the American talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. ... A Gathering of Old Men is a novel by Ernest J. Gaines[1] Set on a 1970s Louisianna Cane farm, the novel addresses racial discrimination and a bond that cannot be usurped. ... The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a fictional 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines, written in the style of an interview with a (fictional) 110-year-old black woman named Jane Pittman. ...

• My Grandpa and the Haint (1966)
• A Long Day in November (1964)
• The Sky Is Gray (1963)
• Just Like a Tree (1963)
• Mary Louis (1960)
• Boy in the Double-Breasted Suit (1957)
• The Turtles (1956)

Works made into film

• A Lesson Before Dying, HBO (1999); winner, Emmy Award for Outstanding Made For Television Movie
• A Gathering of Old Men, CBS Television (1987)
• The Sky Is Gray, American Short Story Series, PBS (1980)
• The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, CBS Television (1974)

A Lesson Before Dying book cover A Lesson Before Dying is Ernest J. Gaines eighth book, Published in 1994 by Vintage Contemporaries, a division of Random House Inc. ... An Emmy Award. ... A Gathering of Old Men is a novel by Ernest J. Gaines[1] Set on a 1970s Louisianna Cane farm, the novel addresses racial discrimination and a bond that cannot be usurped. ... The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a fictional 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines, written in the style of an interview with a (fictional) 110-year-old black woman named Jane Pittman. ...

Awards

• Chevalier in the Order of Art and Letters (France) (2000)
• The American Academy of Arts and Letters (2000)
• The National Governors’ Arts Award (2000)
• The Louisiana Writer of the Year Award (2000)
• National Humanities Medal (2000)
• John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellow (1993)
• Dos Passos Prize (1993)
• Louisiana Humanist of the Year (1993)
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation fellow (1971)
• National Endowment for the Arts grant (1967)
• Wallace Stegner fellow (1957)

... American Academy of Arts and Letters is an organization whose goal is to foster, assist, and sustain an interest in American literature, music, and art. ... The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities. ... The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes nicknamed the genius grant) is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation each year to typically 20 to 40 citizens or residents of the US, of any age and working in any field, who show exceptional merit... The John Dos Passos Prize is one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the United States, awarded annually to writers in the middle of their career. ... The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1937 by philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and artist Hilla Rebay. ... The National Endowment for the Arts is a United States federally funded program that offers support and funding for projects that exhibit artistic excellence. ... Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909—April 13, 1993) was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist. ...

Famous quotes

• "Question everything. Every stripe, every star, every word spoken. Everything."
• "Sometimes you got to hurt something to help something. Sometimes you have to plow under one thing in order for something else to grow."
• "The mark of fear is not easily removed."
• "There will always be men struggling to change, and there will always be those who are controlled by the past."
• "Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?"
• "Words mean nothing. Action is the only thing. Doing. That's the only thing."

Sources

• UL Lafayette bio
• Randon House bio
• The African American Registry
• Quotes source

External links

• Samples of Gaines' writing
• Interview with Gaines