William Elbert Gay (October 27, 1941 February 23, 2012) was an American writer of novels, short stories and essays.

Early life

Gay was born in Hohenwald, Tennessee. After high school, Gay joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and served during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...

. After returning to the States, he lived in both New York City and Chicago before returning to

Lewis County, Tennessee Lewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,161. Its county seat is Hohenwald. The county is named for explorer Meriwether Lewis, who died and was buried at Grinder's Stand ne ...

, where he lived from 1978 until his death. Even though he had been writing since the age of fifteen, Gay did not publish anything until 1998, when two of his short stories were accepted by literary magazines. Before then, Gay made his living as a carpenter, drywall hanger, and house painter.

Career

In 1999, Gay published his first novel, ''The Long Home''. Gay was recognized and marketed as "the real thing," a new Larry Brown. The novel won the 1999 James A. Michener Memorial Prize and sold well enough to start a bidding war for his second novel. ''Provinces of Night'' was published in late 2000 and confirmed Gay's knack for storytelling. It formed the basis for the 2010 independent film ''

Bloodworth ''Bloodworth'' is a 2010 drama film directed by Shane Dax Taylor and based on ''Provinces of Night'', a novel by William Gay. The film stars Val Kilmer, Kris Kristofferson, and Dwight Yoakam. Toby Keith was also set to star in the film, but late ...

''. In 2002, Gay published a collection of stories, ''I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down'', and in 2006 Gay's third novel, ''Twilight'' was published. With its story of a kinky undertaker who hires a hitman to kill a nosy teenager, ''Twilight'' is Gay's most straightforward

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or ...

novel. Gay's stories have been anthologized extensively, and as well as his fictional work, Gay frequently contributed essays on music to magazines such as '' Paste'' and ''

Oxford American The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South. First publication The magazine was begun in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on ''T ...

''. William Gay was named a 2007 USA Ford Foundation Fellow and awarded a $50,000 grant by

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

, a public charity that supports and promotes the work of American artists.

Lost works

In 2015, it was announced that two of his lost novels had been found and would be published: ''Little Sister Death'' was published in the autumn of 2015, and ''The Lost Country'' was published in late 2016. In June 2017, the Novel ''Stoneburner'' was published by Anomolaic Press.

Themes

Gay's fiction is almost always set in the rural South of the 1940s and 50s. This alone lends it an air of old-fashioned authenticity similar to that of

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

and

Flannery O'Connor Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries. She was a Southern literature, Southe ...

. Gay's South is as darkly violent and as dirt-poor as anything by

Erskine Caldwell Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (1 ...

or O'Connor. Gay's novels take the shape of

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

stories. His three novels depict young idealistic boys that turn into men through a series of violent encounters in which they must make tough moral decisions to face and defeat the evil they are up against. Another recurrent theme in Gay's fiction is his preoccupation with "plain folk," such as carpenters and

bootleggers Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

, who are frequently the kin of the young men coming of age. In addition, ''Provinces of Night'' deals with another issue peculiar to the

Upper South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern and lower Midwestern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, econom ...

of the period, the condemnation of private property for the development of a new dam by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

Death

Gay died on February 23, 2012, presumably of a heart attack. He was 70.

Works

*1999: ''The Long Home'' (MacMurray & Beck). *2000: ''Provinces of Night'' (Doubleday). *2002: ''I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down'' (Free Press). *2006: ''Wittgenstein's Lolita/The Iceman: Short Stories from William Gay'' (Wild Dog Press). **This little collection also includes an afterword by J. M. White that provides the most accurate biographical information on Gay available so far. *2006: ''Twilight'' (MacAdam/Cage). *2010: ''Time Done Been Won't Be No More: Collected Prose'' (Wild Dog Press). *2015: ''Little Sister Death'' published posthumously (Dzanc Books). *2018: ''Stoneburner'' published posthumously (Anomolaic Press). *2018: ''The Lost Country'' published posthumously (Dzanc Books). *2021: ''Fugitives of the Heart'' published posthumously (Livingston Press). *2022: ''Stories from the Attic'' published posthumously (Dzanc Books).

Film adaptation of ''The Long Home''

It was announced on April 6, 2015, that

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...

would direct, produce—through Rabbit Bandini Productions—and star in the film adaptation of ''The Long Home''.

Josh Hutcherson Joshua Ryan Hutcherson (born October 12, 1992) is an American actor and producer. Hutcherson began acting in the early 2000s and appeared in several commercials and minor film and television roles before landing his first major role in 2002 in ...

was officially cast as the lead, Nathan Winer on May 1, 2015.

Tim Blake Nelson Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor and playwright. Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in '' O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in '' Minority Report'' (2002), Dr. Pend ...

was also officially cast on May 1, 2015. Originally slated for 2017, it has yet to be released in any form as of 2021.

References

External links

Hear William Gay read from ''Twilight''Read an excerpt from ''Twilight''Ford Foundation 2007 FellowsUnited States Artists Arts Advocacy Organization.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, William 1941 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War American writers about music United States Navy sailors American male short story writers People from Hohenwald, Tennessee American male essayists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists Ford Foundation fellowships 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers