William Kent Krueger
William Kent Krueger | |
---|---|
Born | Torrington, Wyoming, U.S. | November 16, 1950
Occupation | Novelist |
Period | 1998–present |
Genre | Mystery, crime fiction |
Subject | Minnesota, Native American Indian Tribes, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) |
Notable works | Iron Lake, Cork O'Connor Series |
Notable awards | Bush Artist Fellowship 1988 Loft-McKnight Fiction Award Anthony Award for Best First Novel 1999 Iron Lake Barry Award for Best First Novel 1999 Iron Lake Anthony Award for Best Novel 2005 Blood Hollow Anthony Award for Best Novel 2006 Mercy Falls Edgar Award for Best Novel 2013 Ordinary Grace |
Website | |
www |
William Kent Krueger (born November 16, 1950) is an American novelist and
Biographical details
Krueger has said that he wanted to be a writer from the third grade when his story "The Walking Dictionary" was praised by his teacher and parents.[5]
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.[5] Throughout his early life, he supported himself by logging timber, digging ditches, working in construction, and being published as a freelance journalist; he never stopped writing.[5]
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. It won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, the
Krueger is married and has two children. He lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.[1]
Writing influences
Krueger has said his favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. He grew up reading Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James T. Farrell. Most influential among these was Hemingway. In an interview for Shots magazine, Krueger described 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.[5]
As a mystery genre writer, Krueger credits Tony Hillerman and James Lee Burke as his strongest influences.[5]
Writing process
Krueger prefers to write early in the morning. He began writing in his 30s and had to make time for writing early in the morning before going to work at the University of Minnesota. Rising at 5:30 am, he would go to the nearby St. Clair Broiler, where he would drink coffee and write longhand in wire-bound notebooks.[5][6] In return for his loyalty, the restaurant has hosted book launches for him. At one of them, the staff wore T-shirts emblazoned with "A nice place to visit. A great place to die."[7] The St. Clair Broiler permanently closed in the fall of 2017.
Setting for the Cork O'Connor series
When Krueger decided to set the series in northern Minnesota, he realized that a large percentage of the population was of mixed ancestry. In college, he had wanted to become a
History was a study in futility. Because people never learned. Century after century, they committed the same atrocities against one another or against the earth, and the only thing that changed was the magnitude of the slaughter... Conscience was a devil that plagued the individual. Collectively, a people squashed it as easily as stepping on a daisy.
— William Kent Krueger, Purgatory Ridge
Krueger has read the first Ojibwe historian,
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."[9]
Bibliography
Cork O'Connor
- Iron Lake
- ISBN 0-671-01696-2
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, paperback (1999), ISBN 0-671-01697-0
- ISBN 978-1-4407-5520-0
- Boundary Waters
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (1999), ISBN 0-671-01698-9
- Recorded Books (2010), ISBN 978-1-4407-5524-8
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (1999),
- Purgatory Ridge
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2001), ISBN 0-671-04753-1
- Recorded Books (2010), ISBN 978-1-4407-5528-6
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2001),
- Blood Hollow
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2004), ISBN 0-7434-4586-4
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, paperback (2005), ISBN 0-7434-4587-2
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2004),
- Mercy Falls
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2005), ISBN 0-7434-4588-0
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, paperback (2006), ISBN 0-7434-4589-9
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2005),
- Copper River
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2006), ISBN 0-7432-7840-2
- Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, paperback (2007), ISBN 1-4165-1446-5
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2006),
- Thunder Bay
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2007), ISBN 0-7432-7841-0
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2009), ISBN 978-1-4391-5782-4
- Atria, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2007),
- Red Knife
- Atria Books, hardcover (2008), ISBN 978-1-4165-5674-9
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2009), ISBN 978-1-4165-5675-6
- Atria Books, hardcover (2008),
- Heaven's Keep
- Atria Books, hardcover (2009), ISBN 978-1-4165-5676-3
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2010), ISBN 978-1416556770
- Atria Books, hardcover (2009),
- Vermilion Drift
- Atria Books, hardcover (2010), ISBN 978-1439153840
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2011), ISBN 978-1439153871
- Atria Books, hardcover (2010),
- Northwest Angle
- Atria Books, hardcover (2011), ISBN 978-1439153956
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2012), ISBN 978-1439153963
- Atria Books, hardcover (2011),
- Trickster's Point
- Atria Books, hardcover (2012), ISBN 978-1451645675
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2013), ISBN 978-1451645712
- Atria Books, hardcover (2012),
- Tamarack County
- Atria Books, hardcover (2013), ISBN 978-1451645750
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2014), ISBN 978-1451645774
- Atria Books, hardcover (2013),
- Windigo Island
- Atria Books, hardcover (2014), ISBN 978-1476749235
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2015), ISBN 978-1476749242
- Atria Books, hardcover (2014),
- Manitou Canyon
- Atria Books, hardcover (2016), ISBN 978-1476749266
- Atria Books, trade paperback (2017), ISBN 978-1476749273
- Atria Books, hardcover (2016),
- Sulphur Springs
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, Hardcover (2017), ISBN 978-1501147340
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, Trade Paperback (2018), ISBN 978-1501147432
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, Hardcover (2017),
- Desolation Mountain
- Atria Books (2018), ISBN 978-1501147463
- Atria Books (2018),
- Lightning Strike
- Atria Books (2021), ISBN 978-1982128685
- Atria Books (2021),
- Fox Creek
- Atria Books (2022), ISBN 978-1982128715
Stand-alone novels
- The Devil's Bed
- ISBN 0-7434-6636-5
- Pocket Star paperback (2003)
- Ordinary Grace
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2013), ISBN 978-1451645828
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, trade paperback (2014), ISBN 978-1451645859
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2013),
- This Tender Land
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2019), ISBN 978-1476749297
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2019),
- “The River We Remember”
- Atria Books, Simon & Schuster, hardcover (2023), ISBN 978-1-9821-7921-2
Anthologies
- "Hixton" in Crimes By Moonlight, Berkley Publishing (ebook, 2010)
- "Bums" in USA Noir, Akashic Books (soft cover, 2013)
Awards
- Bush Artist Fellowship, 1988
- Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, 1998 (forIron Lake)
- Minnesota Book Award, 1999 (for Iron Lake)
- Anthony Awardfor Best First Novel, 1999 (for Iron Lake)
- Barry Awardfor Best First Novel, 1999 (for Iron Lake)
- Friends of American Writers Prize, 1999
- Minnesota Book Award, 2002 (for Purgatory Ridge)
- Readers Choice Award, 2003
- Anthony Awardfor Best Novel, 2005 (for Blood Hollow)
- Mercy Falls)
- Minnesota Book Award, 2007 (for Copper River)
- Northeastern Minnesota Book Award, 2007 (for Thunder Bay)
- Dilys Award, 2008 (for Thunder Bay)
- Minnesota Book Award, 2008 (for Thunder Bay)
- Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, 2013 (for Ordinary Grace)
- Edgar Award, 2013 (for Ordinary Grace)
References
- ^ "Anthonys 2005–2009". Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
- ^ ""The Edgar Award Winners" – list of 2013 winners". May 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "William Kent Krueger Official website". Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Interview with William Kent Krueger". Shots Magazine. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
- ^ "Interview with William Kent Krueger". Kaliber .38 (magazine). Retrieved May 20, 2008.
- ^ "William Kent Krueger". City Pages. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
- ^ a b "Simon and Schuster Interview with William Kent Krueger". Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
- ^ "Interview with William Kent Krueger". Book Reporter. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
External links
- "Minnesota public radio interview with William Kent Krueger". Retrieved September 5, 2018.
- "On the Trail of William Kent Krueger – resource page". November 7, 2009.
- Interview with William Kent Krueger by Bruce Southworth on the Northern Lights Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #420 (1999): https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll38:104#/kaltura_video
- Reading by William Kent Krueger from Iron Lake for the 1999 Minnesota Book Awards program along with other nominees, Northern Lights TV Series #432 (1999): https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll38:208#/kaltura_video