Ron hansen utah
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Ron Hansen (novelist)
American novelist, essayist, and professor
Ron Hansen (born December 8, 1947) is an American novelist, essayist, and professor.[1] He is known for writing literarywesterns exploring the people and history of the American heartland, notably The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (1983), which was adapted into an acclaimed film.[2]
Biography
Ron Hansen was born in Omaha, Nebraska and reared as Catholic.[3] He attended a Jesuit high school, Creighton Preparatory School, and earned a Bachelor's degree in English from Creighton University in Omaha in 1970.[4]
Following military service, he earned an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1974 and held a Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowship at Stanford University. He later earned an M.A. in Spirituality from Santa Clara University.
Hansen is the Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. Professor in the Arts and Humanities at Santa Clara University, where he teaches courses in writing and literature.[3] He is married to the write
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A Novel Vocation: A Conversation with Ron Hansen
Joseph O’Brien
The post-war boom in fiction was a moment of hope for the state of Catholic culture. Catholic writers Flannery O’Connor and Muriel Spark were being sent up the same flag poles that flew pennants for Saul Bellow and John Updike. Catholics even managed to capture back-to-back wins of the coveted National Book Award with Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer(1962) and J.F. Powers’ Morte D’Urban (1963).
But then it seemed that once Catholic fiction had its moment, the light began to fade and with it any hope of a true Catholic renaissance in literature. While for consolation O’Connor, Percy, Powers et al, have been enshrined in the pantheon of contemporary fiction, it seemed everyone was ready to don black arm bands, write up the obits and send flowers.
Fortunately for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Nebraska-born and Catholic-raised novelist Ron Hansen dismissed reports on the death of Catholic fiction as greatly exaggerated.
Hansen is the author of nine novels, including his most rec
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What History Has Taught Me: Ron Hansen, Author
Growing up in Omaha, Ron Hansen found the Old West present in Nebraska’s cornfields, wilderness and railroad tracks full of empty boxcars. Following his U.S. Army career, he earned an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1974, held the Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowship at Stanford University and earned an M.A. in Spirituality from Santa Clara University, where he teaches writing and literature. He mixes history with morality in his novels. His first novel, 1979’s Desperadoes, reimagines the Dalton Gang. His 1983 novel, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, landed on the short list for the PEN/Faulkner Award. His latest novel, The Kid, delves into the life of outlaw Billy the Kid. He lives in California with his wife, writer Bo Caldwell.
An early Western hero of mine was Davy Crockett, thanks to Fess Parker and his TV show.
A Jesuit education introduced me to the classics, history, philosophy, theology and other subjects that are too often neglected in public schools.
An author
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