Frederick Barthelme

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Fredrick Barthelme
Born (1943-10-10) October 10, 1943 (age 81)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
Alma mater Johns Hopkins University
Relatives

Fredrick Barthelme (born October 10, 1943) is an American novelist and short story writer of minimalist fiction. He is the director of the Center For Writers at The University of Southern Mississippi and editor of New World Writing (formerly Blip Magazine )

Contents

Early life

Frederick Barthelme was born on October 10, 1943, in Houston, Texas. [1] [2] In the 1960s, he studied at University of St. Thomas and Johns Hopkins University. [3]

Career

Barthelme was a founding member of the Texan experimental rock band Red Krayola. In August 1967, he left the band to pursue writing and conceptual art in New York, working for a brief period as an assistant to the director of the Kornblee Gallery. [4] [5] [6] [7]

In November 1967, he showcased the conceptual art piece "untitled" at a New York art gallery and later several other pieces between 1968 and 1970, as well as some pieces in Art-Language, his works were later published in the book "Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object". [8] [9]

His writing focuses on the landscape of the New South. Along with being a minimalist, his work has also been described as "dirty realism" and "Kmart realism". [10] He published his first short story in The New Yorker. [11]

Barthelme was the editor of Mississippi Review for three years. [12] He is the director of the Center For Writers at The University of Southern Mississippi and editor of New World Writing [13] (formerly Blip Magazine ). [1]

Personal life

His brothers Donald Barthelme and Steven Barthelme are also writers.

Conceptual artwork

YearTitleMediumPublication / Exhibition
1967UntitledTapeSix Years (1972, ed. Lucy R. Lippard)
November 1968The Complex Figure-Ground Issue as Dealt with by the Young Artist David Frame35-page bookletSix Years
November 1968The Flying NabiscumBread and inkSix Years
November 1968Towels at RestTowelsSix Years
March 1969(unnamed works)TextMarch 1–31, 1969 (1969, ed. Seth Siegelaub), Six Years
May 23, 1969Determinization System 1: Physical phenomena have as their specific differentia spatial localizationTextArt-Language Vol. 1 No. 2 (1970)
May 23, 1969Determinization System 2: Psychical phenomena have as their specific differentia intentional structureTextArt-Language Vol. 1 No. 2 (1970)
May 23, 1969Determinization System 3: Universal distillateTextArt-Language Vol. 1 No. 2 (1970)
1969Instead of making any art I bought this television setTelevision557,087
Jan–Feb 1970Two WorksTextSix Years
February 6, 1970Substitution 15TextSix Years
February 21, 1970Substitution 24TextConceptual Art (1972, ed. Ursula Meyer)
February 22, 1970Substitution 25TextConceptual Art (1972, ed. Ursula Meyer)

Publications

Novels

Story collections

Memoirs

Screenplays

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 "Fredrick Barthelme". The Mississippi Writers Page. The University of Mississippi, English Department. November 11, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  2. r2WPadmin. "Barthelme, Frederick". Mississippi Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2025-09-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. Breznikar, Klemen (2023-10-31). "Red Krayola | Interview | Mayo Thompson". It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  4. "Frederick Barthelme Biography". biography.jrank.org. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  5. "Mayo Thompson Interview Part 1". richieunterberger.com (Interview).
  6. "The Red Krayola - The Parable of Arable Land/God Bless the Red Krayola & All Who Sail with It Album Reviews, Songs & More", AllMusic, retrieved 2023-05-03
  7. "The Red Krayola: The Parable of Arable Land / God Bless The Red Krayola and All Who Sail with It". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  8. Lippard, Lucy (1969). Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object.
  9. "About – Frederick Barthelme" . Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  10. "Southernscribe.com". www.southernscribe.com.
  11. "Archived copy". The New Yorker . Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2020-02-18.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Barthelme's Departure Leaves the 'Mississippi Review' in Limbo - PageView - the Chronicle of Higher Education". Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  13. "Our Name Change". newworldwriting.net. December 13, 2012.
  14. "But the Ubu is missing (Published 1971)". 1971-09-19. Retrieved 2025-09-24.

Further reading