William Clark Styron, Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work.For much of his career, Styron was best known for his novels, including:Lie Down in Darkness (1951), his acclaimed first novel, published at age 26;The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), narrated by Nat Turner, the leader of an 1831 Virginia slave revolt;Sophie's Choice (1979), a story "told through the eyes of a young aspiring writer from the South, about a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz and her brilliant but troubled Jewish lover in postwar Brooklyn".In 1985, he suffered his most serious bout with depression. Out of this grave and menacing experience, he was later able to write the memoir Darkness Visible (1990), the work Styron became best known for during the last two decades of his life.
Susanna Styron, Alexandra Styron, Paola Styron, Thomas Styron
Parents
Pauline Margaret Abraham Styron, William Clark Styron Sr.
Awards
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, St. Louis Literary Award, Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service, National Book Award for Fiction (Hardcover)
Nominations
National Book Award for Fiction
Movies
Shadrach, Sophie's Choice, Goodbye Uncle Tom
Star Sign
Gemini
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Quote
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[from a letter to Norman Mailer, 1953] I think I'm arriving at a point which, more and more, I'm conscious of mannerisms and therefore tend to avoid them and go instead more directly to to the point. It's a hell of a hard process, but I take to it more instinctively than the other way around: the brawny method, like a big guy bellowing his way through a crowd.
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Fact
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He was born into a well-to-do family, and decided to become a writer when he was in his teens. His mother died when he was 13, and he attributed some of his later problems to his continuing grief. He served in WWII in the US Marines.
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First novel was the Southern-styled "Lie Down in Darkness".
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Served in the Marines during WWII and later graduated from Duke University.
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His best-seller "Sophie's Choice" won the American Book Award for fiction in 1980. Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her performance in the 1982 film adaptation (Sophie's Choice (1982)).
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Graduate of Duke University.
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He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1993 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.
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Won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for his novel "The Confessions of Nat Turner".
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President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1983
$800,000
