Edna Ann Proulx ( ; born August 22, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx. She won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her first novel, ''

Postcards A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin Card stock, cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a ...

,'' making her the first woman to receive the prize. Her second novel, '' The Shipping News'' (1993), won both the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

and the U.S.

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...

and was adapted as a 2001 film of the same name. Her short story "

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from Brokeback Mountain (short story), the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay ...

" was adapted as an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

and

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

-winning

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

released in 2005.

Personal life and education

Proulx was born Edna Ann Proulx in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, to Lois Nellie ( Gill) and Georges-Napoléon Proulx. Her first name honored one of her mother's aunts. She is of English and

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

ancestry. Her maternal forebears came to America in 1635, 15 years after the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

'' arrived. Proulx lived in multiple states along the East Coast during her childhood as her father worked his way up through the textile industry. She wrote her first story at the age of 10, while sick with chicken pox. She graduated from Deering High School in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. She briefly attended Colby College, where she met her first husband, H. Ridgely Bullock, Jr., and dropped out to marry him in 1955. She later returned to college, studying at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

from 1966 to 1969, and graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

with a B.A. in History in 1969. She earned her M.A. in history from Sir George Williams University (now

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

) in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1973. Proulx pursued a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at Concordia and passed her oral examinations in 1975, but abandoned her dissertation before completing the degree. In 1999, Concordia awarded her an honorary doctorate. Proulx lived for more than 30 years in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, has married and divorced three times, and has three sons and a daughter (Jonathan, Gillis, Morgan, and Sylvia). In 1994, she moved to Bird Cloud, a ranch in

Saratoga, Wyoming Saratoga is a town in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,702 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saratoga is the home of the Steinley Cup microbrew festival and competition, usually held in August at Veterans ...

, spending part of the year in northern

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

on a small cove adjacent to

L'Anse aux Meadows L'Anse aux Meadows () is an archaeological site, first excavated in the 1960s, of a Norse colonization of North America, Norse settlement dating to approximately 1,000 years ago. The site is located on the northernmost tip of the island of Newf ...

. As of 2019, Proulx lived in

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition ...

Writing career and recognition

Starting as a journalist, her first published work of fiction was "''The Customs Lounge''", a science fiction story published in the September 1963 issue of '' If'', under the byline "E.A. Proulx". A year later, her science fiction story "''All the Pretty Little Horses''" appeared in the teen magazine '' Seventeen'' in June 1964. She subsequently published stories in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' magazine and '' Gray's Sporting Journal'' in the late 1970s, as well as how-to manuals for cooking and gardening. Proulx published her first short-story collection, ''Heart Songs'', in 1988 and her first novel, ''Postcards'', in 1992. She was the first woman to receive the PEN/Faulkner Award, which was awarded to ''Postcards''. She was awarded a NEA fellowship and a Guggenheim fellowship in 1992. Her 1993 novel '' The Shipping News'' was adapted into a 2001 film. Set in Newfoundland yet written by someone "from away" (not from Newfoundland), the novel stresses the vicarious quality of Proulx' writing. She had the following comment on her celebrity status: In 1997, Proulx was awarded the Dos Passos Prize, a mid-career award for American writers. Proulx has twice won the O. Henry Prize for the year's best short story. In 1998, she won for "

", which had appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' on October 13, 1997. Proulx won again the following year for "The Mud Below", which appeared in ''The New Yorker'' June 22 and 29, 1999. Both appear in her 1999 collection of short stories, '' Close Range: Wyoming Stories''. The lead story in this collection, entitled "The Half-Skinned Steer", was selected by author Garrison Keillor for inclusion in ''

The Best American Short Stories ''The Best American Short Stories'' is a yearly anthology that's part of ''The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the ''BASS'' has anthologized more than 2,000 short stories, including works by some of the ...

1998,'' (Proulx herself edited the 1997 edition of this series) and later by novelist

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

for inclusion in ''The Best American Short Stories of the Century'' (1999). In 2007, the composer Charles Wuorinen approached Proulx with the idea of turning her short story "Brokeback Mountain" into an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. The opera of the same name with a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Proulx herself premiered January 28, 2014, at the Teatro Real in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. It was praised as an often brilliant adaptation that clearly conveyed the text of the libretto with music that is rich in imagination and variety. Proulx published her first non-fiction book, ''Bird Cloud: A Memoir'', largely based on her former Wyoming ranch of the same name. In 2017, she received the Fitzgerald Award for that year for Achievement in American Literature.

Bibliography

Nonfiction

* * * * ''Plan and Make Your Own Fences & Gates, Walkways, Walls & Drives'' (1983), *''The Fine Art of Salad Gardening''. 1985. * ''The Gourmet Gardener: Growing Choice Fruits and Vegetables with Spectacular Results'' (1987), * * ''Bird Cloud: A Memoir'' (2011), *Foreword (2018) In: Wild Migrations: Atlas of Wyoming's Ungulates. Alethea Y. Steingisser, Emilene Ostlind, Hall Sawyer, James E. Meacham, Matthew J. Kauffman, and William J. Rudd (Eds.). *''Fen, Bog & Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis'' (2022)

Essay

''Swamps Can Protect Against Climate Change, If We Only Let Them''
In:

, June 27, 2022 (July 4, 2022).

Novels

* ''

'' (1992), * '' The Shipping News'' (1993), * '' Accordion Crimes'' (1996), * '' That Old Ace in the Hole'' (2002), * '' Barkskins'' (2016),

Short fiction

Collections

* ''Heart Songs and Other Stories'' (1988), ; republished with altered but similar content as trade paperback '' Heart Songs'' (1994) * '' Close Range: Wyoming Stories'' (1999), * '' Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2'' (2004), * '' Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3'' (2008),

Stories

Awards and recognition

* 1993— PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (''Postcards'') * 1993—''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' Heartland Prize for Fiction, for '' The Shipping News'' * 1993—

Irish Times International Fiction Prize ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

, for '' The Shipping News'' * 1993—

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

, Fiction The Shipping News"National Book Awards – 1993"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
(With acceptance speech by Proulx and essays by Bob Shacochis and Mark Sarvas from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) * 1994—

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

, Fiction The Shipping News"Fiction"
''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2012-03-28. * 1997—Shortlisted for the 1997 Orange Prize (Accordion Crimes) * 1997— John Dos Passos Prize for Literature (for body of work) * 1998—"Half-Skinned Steer", ''The Best American Short Stories 1998'' * 1998—"Brokeback Mountain", O. Henry Awards ''O. Henry Awards: Prize Stories 1998'' * 1998—"Brokeback Mountain",

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

* 1999—"The Mud Below," ''O. Henry Awards: Prize Stories 1999'' * 1999—"The Bunchgrass Edge of the World," ''The Best American Short Stories 1999'' * 1999—"Half-Skinned Steer", ''The Best American Short Stories of the Century'', edited by John Updike * 2000—The New Yorker Book Award, Best Fiction 1999 (''Close Range: Wyoming Stories'') * 2000—English-Speaking Union's Ambassador Book Award (''Close Range: Wyoming Stories'') * 2000—"People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water," ''The Best American Short Stories 2000'' * 2000—Borders Original Voices Award in Fiction (Close Range, Wyoming Stories) * 2000—

WILLA Literary Award WILLA Literary Award honors outstanding literature featuring women's stories, set in the Western United States, published each year. Women Writing the West (WWW), a non-profit association of writers and other professionals writing and promoting th ...

, Women Writing the West * 2002—Best Foreign Language Novels of 2002 / Best American Novel Award, Chinese Publishing Association and Peoples' Literature Publishing House (''That Old Ace in the Hole'') * 2004— Aga Khan Prize for Fiction for "The Wamsutter Wolf" * 2012—

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' ...

Fellow award * 2017— National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (lifetime achievement) * 2018— Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction

Adaptations

* '' The Shipping News'' (2001) was directed by

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop music, pop group ABBA, but came to international attention with his 1985 feature film ''My L ...

and featured

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

as the protagonist Quoyle,

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

as Agnis Hamm and

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...

as Wavey Prowse. * ''

'' (2005), directed by

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...

and starring

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film care ...

and Jake Gyllenhaal, was based on a story of the same name in Proulx's collection of short stories, '' Close Range''. * '' Barkskins'', a

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

television series based on Proulx's 2016 novel, premiered on May 25, 2020.

References

External links

*
Books That Changed My Life
PEN World Voices at the New York Public Library May 4, 2008
An Interview with Annie Proulx
, Bookslut, December 2005.
Interview with Annie Proulx in the Fall 2005 Wyoming Library Roundup
(PDF 3.69 MB) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Proulx, Annie 1935 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women novelists American postmodern writers National Book Award winners Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners American people of English descent American people of French-Canadian descent Writers from Portland, Maine Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from Vermont Writers from Wyoming Colby College alumni Sir George Williams University alumni University of Vermont alumni Concordia University alumni The New Yorker people Novelists from Maine People from Saratoga, Wyoming Deering High School alumni