William O'Rourke (writer)

Last updated
William O'Rourke
Born (1945-12-04) December 4, 1945 (age 77)
Chicago
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Missouri-Kansas City
Genre Fiction, Nonfiction, memoir, journalism
Notable worksThe Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left (1972), Idle Hands (1981), Criminal Tendencies (1987), Campaign America '96: The View From the Couch (1997)

William O'Rourke (born December 4, 1945) is an American writer of both novels and volumes of nonfiction; he is the author of the novels The Meekness of Isaac (Thomas Y. Crowell, Co., 1974), Idle Hands (Delacorte Press, 1981), Criminal Tendencies (E. P. Dutton, 1987), and Notts (Marlowe & Co, 1996), as well as the nonfiction books, The Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left (Thomas Y. Crowell, Co., 1972), Signs of the Literary Times: Essays, Reviews, Profiles (SUNY Press, 1993), and On Having a Heart Attack: A Medical Memoir (U of Notre Dame P, 2006). He is the editor of On the Job: Fiction About Work by Contemporary American Writers (Random House, 1977) and the co-editor of Notre Dame Review: The First Ten Years (U of Notre Dame P, 2009). His book, Campaign America '96: The View From the Couch, first published in 1997 (Marlowe & Co.), was reissued in paperback with a new, updated epilogue in 2000. A sequel, Campaign America 2000: The View From the Couch, was published in 2001 (PreviewPort Editions).

Contents

He has been awarded two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships (for the novels Idle Hands and Criminal Tendencies) and he was the first James Thurber Writer-in-Residence in 1984 at the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio, [1] and was awarded a New York State Council on the Arts award for his first novel, The Meekness of Isaac. On Having a Heart Attack was awarded a Bronze Medal in ForeWord Magazine's 2006 Book of the Year Awards, Health category. [2]

Born in Chicago and raised in Kansas City, Mo., he attended University of Missouri–Kansas City, graduating in 1968 and completed an M.F.A. at Columbia University in 1970. His first book, The Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left (1972), covered the trial of the a group of religious anti-war activists, known as the "Harrisburg Seven," and his account was heralded by Garry Wills in the New York Times Book Review as "the best volume on any of the recent political trials" and "a clinical X ray of our society's condition." [3] He followed up his court reporting with his first novel, The Meekness of Isaac (1974), while working as a laborer at Feller's Scenery Studio in the South Bronx. He then moved to teaching at various universities.

O'Rourke taught journalism at Newark State College (now Kean University) from 1973–74, before moving to Rutgers–Newark (journalism and creative writing) and then Mount Holyoke College (creative writing) in South Hadley, MA. In 1981, he joined the English department at the University of Notre Dame, where he was the founding director of its graduate creative writing program in 1990-91 and continues as professor and the editor of its national literary journal, the Notre Dame Review .

He wrote a weekly political column for the Chicago Sun-Times from 2001 till 2005, as well as, over the years, short nonfiction and criticism for The Nation , The New York Times , Commonweal , the Chicago Tribune , and other periodicals.

Published books

Fiction

Nonfiction

Edited works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. J. O'Rourke</span> American political satirist and journalist (1947–2022)

Patrick Jake O'Rourke was an American political satirist and journalist. O'Rourke was the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute and a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, The American Spectator, and The Weekly Standard, and frequent panelist on National Public Radio's game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He was a columnist at The Daily Beast from 2011 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Notre Dame</span> Private university in Notre Dame, Indiana

The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campus covers 1,261 acres in a suburban setting and contains landmarks such as the Golden Dome, the Word of Life mural, Notre Dame Stadium, and the Basilica. Originally for men, the university did not formally accept undergraduate female students until 1972.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by William Dieterle

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American romantic drama film starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara. Directed by William Dieterle and produced by Pandro S. Berman, the film is based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel. The film is also noted for being the first film ever shown at the Cannes Film Festival before the festival was postponed due to World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Hesburgh</span> 15th President of the University of Notre Dame

Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC was an American Catholic priest and academic who was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He is best known for his service as the president of the University of Notre Dame for thirty-five years (1952–1987). In addition to his career as an educator and author, Hesburgh was a public servant and social activist involved in numerous American civic and governmental initiatives, commissions, international humanitarian projects, and papal assignments. Hesburgh received numerous honors and awards for his service, most notably the United States's Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964) and Congressional Gold Medal (2000). As of 2013, he also held the world's record for the individual with most honorary degrees with more than 150.

Americanism was, in the years around 1900, a political and religious outlook attributed to some American Catholics and denounced as heresy by the Holy See.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Augustine Zahm</span>

The Rev. John Augustine Zahm, CSC was a Holy Cross priest, author, scientist, and explorer of South America. He was born at New Lexington, Ohio, and died in Munich, Germany.

Seamus Francis Deane was an Irish poet, novelist, critic, and intellectual historian. He was noted for his debut novel, Reading in the Dark, which won several literary awards and was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurber House</span> Historic house in Ohio, United States

Thurber House is a literary center for readers and writers located in Columbus, Ohio, in the historic former home of author, humorist, and New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber. Thurber House is dedicated to promoting the literary arts by presenting quality literary programming; increasing the awareness of literature as a significant art form; promoting excellence in writing; providing support for literary artists; and commemorating Thurber's literary and artistic achievements. The house is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and also as part of the Jefferson Avenue Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meghan O'Rourke</span> American poet

Meghan O'Rourke is an American nonfiction writer, poet and critic.

The Harrisburg Seven were a group of religious anti-war activists, led by Philip Berrigan, charged in 1971 in a failed conspiracy case in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, located in Harrisburg. The seven were Phillip Berrigan, Elizabeth McAlister, Rev. Neil McLaughlin, Rev. Joseph Wenderoth, Eqbal Ahmad, Anthony Scoblick, and Mary Cain Scoblick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice F. Egan</span> American diplomat

Maurice Francis Egan was an American writer and diplomat. He was a prolific writer and had a long and successful career as a Catholic journalist, literary critic, and novelist. He was a professor of English at two universities, and served as United States Minister in Copenhagen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Hall (University of Notre Dame)</span> United States historic place

Washington Hall at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana is the seventh oldest university owned building on the historic campus. It is part of the University of Notre Dame: Main and North Quadrangles historic district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was the original home of the university's music and performing arts programs.

Edward William O'Rourke was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Peoria in Illinois from 1971 to 1990.

American Catholic literature emerged in the early 1900s as its own genre. Catholic literature is not exclusively literature written by Catholic authors or about Catholic things, but rather Catholic literature is "defined [...] by a particular Catholic perspective applied to its subject matter."

Father Michael Himes was a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. Himes was a theologian at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. He served as professor and academic dean of the Seminary of Immaculate Conception on Long Island, New York, and as associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Ann Fennelly</span> American poet and writer

Beth Ann Fennelly is an American poet and prose writer and was the Poet Laureate of Mississippi.

Valerie Sayers is an American writer and the author of six novels: The Powers (2013); Brain Fever (1996); The Distance Between Us (1994); Who Do You Love (1991); How I Got Him Back, or, Under the Cold Moon’s Shine (1989); and Due East (1987). Brain Fever and Who Do You Love were named New York Times "Notable Books of the Year", and the 2002 film Due East is based on her first two novels. Reviewing Who Do You Love, The Chicago Tribune declared: "To say that Valerie Sayers is a natural-born writer wildly underestimates the facts…. She has carved out for herself a corner of the South as clearly delineated as Faulkner’s famous Yoknapatawpha County, a sense of the importance and holiness of place that calls to mind Eudora Welty’s writing on the subject."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Costa (journalist)</span> American investigative journalist

Robert Costa is an American political reporter who is the chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News. Prior to joining CBS in 2022, Costa was a longtime national political reporter for The Washington Post. Previously, he was a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and the moderator and managing editor of Washington Week on PBS. He is the co-author with Bob Woodward of Peril, a # 1 New York Times bestseller on the final days of the Trump presidency, including the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

Carlos Eduardo Francisco Lozada Rodriguez Pastor is a Peruvian-American journalist and author and was the nonfiction book critic of The Washington Post. In Sept. 2022, he became an opinion columnist for The New York Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2019 and was a finalist in 2018. The Pulitzer Board cited his "trenchant and searching reviews and essays that joined warm emotion and careful analysis in examining a broad range of books addressing government and the American experience." He received the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. Lozada is an adjunct professor of political science and journalism for the University of Notre Dame's Washington program. He is the author of What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era, published in October 2020 by Simon & Schuster.

Frank O'Malley was a professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. He spent his entire career at Notre Dame, where he was renowned as an undergraduate teacher.

References

  1. Gossage, Jodi (October 1, 1984), "Kindred spirit roams James Thurber home", The Bryan Times, retrieved December 20, 2011
  2. "2006 Foreword INDIES Winners in Health (Adult Nonfiction)". Foreword Reviews . Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  3. Wills, Garry (November 12, 1972), "Harrisburg 7 and The New Catholic Left: By William O'Rourke. 264 pp. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. $6.95.", New York Times, retrieved December 14, 2011