Kay Boyle (February 19, 1902 – December 27, 1992) was an American novelist, short story writer, educator, and political activist. She was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and O. Henry Award winner.

Early years

The granddaughter of a publisher, Boyle was born in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

, and grew up in several cities but principally in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. Her father, Howard Peterson Boyle, was a lawyer, but her greatest influence came from her mother, Katherine Evans, a literary and social activist who believed that the wealthy had an obligation to help the financially less fortunate. In later years Kay Boyle championed integration and civil rights. She advocated banning nuclear weapons, and American withdrawal from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Boyle was educated at the exclusive Shipley School in

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr, pronounced , from Welsh language, Welsh for big hill, is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, Radnor Township and Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaw ...

, then studied architecture at the Ohio Mechanics Institute in Cincinnati. Interested in the arts, she studied violin at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1922 where she found work as a writer/editor with a small magazine.

Marriages and family life

That same year, she met and married a French exchange student, Richard Brault, and they moved to France in 1923. This resulted in her staying in Europe for the better part of the next twenty years. Separated from her husband, she formed a relationship with magazine editor Ernest Walsh, with whom she had a daughter, Sharon, named for the Rose of Sharon, in March 1927, five months after Walsh's death from tuberculosis in October 1926. In 1928 she met Laurence Vail, who was then married to

Peggy Guggenheim Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemian and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with ...

. Boyle and Vail lived together between 1929 until 1932 when, following their divorces, they married. With Vail, she had three more children - daughters Apple-Joan in 1929, Kathe in 1934, and Clover in 1939. During her years in France, Boyle was associated with several innovative literary magazines and made friends with many of the writers and artists living in Paris around

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

. Among her friends were

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

and

Caresse Crosby Caresse Crosby (born Mary Phelps Jacob; April 20, 1892 – January 24, 1970) was the first recipient of a patent for the modern bra, an American patron of the arts, publisher, and the "literary godmother to the Lost Generation of expatriate writ ...

who owned the

Black Sun Press The Black Sun Press was an English language press noted for publishing the early works of many modernist writers including Hart Crane, D. H. Lawrence, Archibald MacLeish, Ernest Hemingway, and Eugene Jolas. It enjoyed the greatest longevity amon ...

and published her first work of fiction, a collection titled ''Short Stories''. They became such good friends that in 1928 Harry Crosby cashed in some stock dividends to help Boyle pay for an abortion. Other friends included Eugene and

Maria Jolas Maria Jolas (January 12, 1893 – March 4, 1987), born Maria McDonald, was one of the founding members of ''transition'' in Paris with her husband Eugene Jolas. Life Jolas was born in Louisville, Kentucky,transition'', one of the preeminent literary publications of the day. A poet as well as a novelist, her early writings often reflected her lifelong search for true love as well as her interest in the power relationships between men and women. Boyle's short stories won two O. Henry Awards. In 1936, she wrote a novel, ''Death of a Man'', an attack on the growing threat of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

. In 1943, following her divorce from Laurence Vail, she married Baron Joseph von Franckenstein, with whom she had two children - Faith in 1942 and Ian in 1943. After having lived in France, Austria, England, and in Germany after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Boyle returned to the United States.

McCarthyism, later life

In the States, Boyle and her husband were victims of early 1950s

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

. Her husband was dismissed by

Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn (; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor who came to prominence for his role as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, when he assisted McCarth ...

from his post in the Public Affairs Division of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

, and Boyle lost her position as foreign correspondent for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', a post she had held for six years. She was

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

ed by most of the major magazines. During this period, her life and writing became increasingly political. She and her husband were cleared by the

in 1957. In the early 1960s, Boyle and her husband lived in Rowayton, Connecticut, where he taught at a private girls' school. He was then rehired by the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

and posted to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, but died shortly thereafter in 1963. Boyle was a writer in residence at the New York City Writer's Conference at Wagner College in 1962. In 1963, she accepted a creative writing position on the faculty of San Francisco State College, where she remained until 1979. Kay Boyle and Connie Young Yu

During this period she became heavily involved in political activism. She traveled to

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

in 1966 as part of the "Americans Want to Know" fact-seeking mission. She participated in numerous protests, and in 1967 was arrested twice and imprisoned. In 1968, she signed the " Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In her later years, she became an active supporter of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

and worked for the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...

. After retiring from San Francisco State College, Boyle held several writer-in-residence positions for brief periods of time, including at

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

in Cheney and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

in Eugene. Boyle died at a

retirement community A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves; however, assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socia ...

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

on December 27, 1992.

Legacy

In her lifetime Kay Boyle published more than 40 books, including 14 novels, eight volumes of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

, 11 collections of short fiction, three children's books, and French to English translations and essays. Most of her papers and manuscripts are in the Morris Library at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

. Morris Library has the

Ruby Cohn Ruby Cohn (born Ruby Burman; August 13, 1922 – October 18, 2011) was an American theater scholar and a leading authority on playwright Samuel Beckett. She was a professor of Comparative Drama at the University of California, Davis for thir ...

Collection of Kay Boyle Letters and the Alice L. Kahler Collection of Kay Boyle Letters.Kay Boyle Letters at Morris Library, Southern Illinois University
/ref> A comprehensive assessment of Boyle's life and work was published in 1986 titled ''Kay Boyle, Artist and Activist'' by Sandra Whipple Spanier. In 1994 Joan Mellen published a voluminous biography of Kay Boyle, ''Kay Boyle: Author of Herself''. A member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

, in addition to her two O. Henry Awards, she received two

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

s and in 1980 received the National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for "extraordinary contribution to American literature over a lifetime of creative work".

Bibliography

Novels

*''Process'' (written in 1925, unpublished until 2001 ) *''Plagued by the Nightingale'' (1931) *''Year Before Last'' (1932) *''Gentlemen, I Address You Privately'' (1933) *''My Next Bride'' (1934) *''Death of a Man'' (1936) *''Yellow Dusk'' (''Bettina Bedwell'') (ghostwritten) (1937) *''Monday Night'' (1938) *''The Crazy Hunter: Three Short Novels'' (''The Crazy Hunter'', ''The Bridegroom's Body'', and ''Big Fiddle'') (1940) *''Primer for Combat'' (1942) *''Avalanche'' (1944) *''A Frenchman Must Die'' (1946) *''1939'' (1948) *''His Human Majesty'' (1949), *''The Seagull on the Step'' (1955) *''Three Short Novels'' (''The Crazy Hunter'',''The Bridegroom's Body'', ''Decision'') (1958) *''Generation Without Farewell'' (1960) *''The Underground Woman'' (1975) *''Winter Night'' (1993)

Story collections

*''Short Stories'' (1929) *''Wedding Day and Other Stories'' (1930) *''The First Lover and Other Stories'' (1933) *''The White Horses of Vienna'' (1935) winner of the O. Henry Award *''The Astronomer's Wife'' (1936) *''Defeat'' (1941), winner of the O. Henry Award *''Thirty Stories'' (1946) *''The Smoking Mountain: Stories of Postwar Germany'' (1951) *''Nothing Ever Breaks Except the Heart'' (1966) *''Fifty Stories'' (1980) *''Life Being the Best and Other Stories'' (1988)

Juvenile

*''The Youngest Camel'' (1939), revised edition published as ''The Youngest Camel: Reconsidered and Rewritten'' (1959) *''Pinky, the Cat Who Liked to Sleep'' (1966) *''Pinky in Persia'' (1968)

Poetry collections

*''A Statement'' (1932) *''A Glad Day'' (1938) *''American Citizen: Naturalized in Leadville'' (1944) *''Collected Poems'' (1962) *''The Lost Dogs of Phnom Pehn'' (1968) *''Testament for My Students and Other Poems'' (1970) *''A Poem for February First'' (1975) *''This Is Not a Letter and Other Poems'' (1985) *''Collected Poems of Kay Boyle'' (

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both ...

, 1991)

Non-fiction

*''Relations & Complications. Being the Recollections of H.H. The Dayang Muda of Sarawak.'' (1929), Forew. by T.P. O'Connor (''Gladys Milton Brooke'') (ghost-written) *''Breaking the Silence: Why a Mother Tells Her Son about the Nazi Era'' (1962) *''The Last Rim of The World'' in "Why Work Series" (1966) *''Being Geniuses Together, 1920-1930'' (1968; with

Robert McAlmon Robert Menzies McAlmon (also used Robert M. McAlmon, as his signature name, March 9, 1895 – February 2, 1956) was an American writer, poet, and publisher. In the 1920s, he founded in Paris the publishing house, Contact Editions, where he publ ...

) *''Winter Night'' and a conversation with the author in '' New Sounds In American Fiction'' (1969) *''The Long Walk at San Francisco State and Other Essays'' (1970) *''Four Visions of America'' (1977; with others) *''Words That Must Somehow Be Said'' (edited by Elizabeth Bell; 1985)

Translations

* ''Don Juan'', by Joseph Delteil (New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1931) * ''Mr Knife, Miss Fork,'' by René Crevel (Paris: Black Sun Press, 1931). A fragment of ''Babylon'' translated into English. * ''The Devil in the Flesh'', by Raymond Radiguet (Paris: Crosby Continental Editions, 1932) * ''Babylon'', by René Crevel (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1985)

References

External links

Modern American Poetry

New York review of books
articles by Kay Boyle
WOSU Presents Ohioana Authors , Kay Boyle

at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Manuscripts and correspondence in Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University

Kay Boyle Papers, 1914-1987
at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Special Collections Research Center *
Kay Boyle addresses The New York Herald Tribune Book and Author Luncheon as heard on WNYC, March 14, 1960.
Boyle speaks starting at 2:35.
"The Teaching of Writing,"
an essay, at Narrative Magazine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Kay 1902 births 1992 deaths Writers from Cincinnati 20th-century American novelists American women short story writers American women poets MacDowell Colony fellows Modernist women writers O. Henry Award winners American tax resisters University of Cincinnati alumni American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from Ohio Shipley School alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters