Frederick Busch (August 1, 1941 – February 23, 2006) was an American writer, and the author of nearly 30 books including volumes of short stories and novels.

Early life

Frederick Matthew Busch was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, New York on August 01, 1941. He graduated from

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German patriarch of Luther ...

in 1962, and earned a master's degree from Columbia in 1967. Busch and his wife lived briefly in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, where they scraped by until Busch got a job teaching at Colgate University in 1966.Hawtree, Christopher (24 March 2006)

Teaching career

Busch was professor of literature at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York from 1966 to 2003. He also served as acting director of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1978-79.

Writing career

Busch had more than 30 books published in his lifetime. He won numerous awards, including the Harry and Ethel Daroff Award in 1985 for ''Invisible Mending''; the American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award in 1986; and the

PEN/Malamud Award The PEN/Malamud Award and Memorial Reading honors "excellence in the art of the short story", and is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. The selection committee is composed of PEN/Faulkner directors and representatives of Bernard Ma ...

in 1991.

Personal life

Busch met his future wife Judith Burroughs in Allentown, PA while attending Muhlenberg College in 1962. They married in 1963. Busch and his wife had two sons, Benjamin and Nicholas. Benjamin Busch is an acclaimed actor. Nicholas Busch was also a graduate of Muhlenberg College in 1995. Busch died of a heart attack in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, New York City, aged 64.

Honours and awards

* 1962 Fellowship Woodrow Wilson Foundation * 1981 Fellowship Guggenheim Foundation * 1981 Fellowship

Ingram Merrill Foundation The Ingram Merrill Foundation was a private foundation established in the mid-1950s by poet James Merrill (1926-1995), using funds from his substantial family inheritance.J. D. McClatchyBraving the Elements ''The New Yorker'', 27 March 1995. Retriev ...

* 1985

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. * 1986 American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award * 1991

for Excellence in Short Fiction * 1997 New York Times Notable Book for "Girls: A Novel" * 1999

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English". * 2000

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. F ...

finalist, for "The Night Inspector

Bibliography

Novels

* ''I Wanted A Year Without Fall - a novel'', London: Calder & Boyars, 1971 * ''Manual Labor - a novel'', New York: New Directions, 1974 * ''Domestic Particulars: a Family Chronicle'', New Directions, 1976 * ''Mutual Friend'', New York:

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 1978 * ''Rounds'', New York:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

, 1980 * ''Take This Man'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1981) * ''Invisible Mending: a novel'',

David R. Godine Godine is a New England based independent book publisher, known for its beautifully published and carefully selected books, primarily nonfiction, literary fiction, and poetry. History The company was founded in 1970 by David R. Godine who acted ...

, 1984 * ''Sometimes I Live in the Country'', David R. Godine 1986 * ''War Babies'', New Directions, 1989 * ''Harry and Catherine'',

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers i ...

, 1990 * ''Closing Arguments'',

Ticknor & Fields Ticknor and Fields was an American publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as a bookstore in 1832, the business would publish many 19th century American authors including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Jame ...

, 1991 * ''Long Way From Home'', Ticknor & Fields, 1993 * ''Girls: A Novel'', Harmony Books, 1997 * ''The Night Inspector'', Harmony Books (1999) * ''A Memory of War'', W. W. Norton & Co (2003) * ''North: A Novel'', W. W. Norton & Co (2005) (sequel to ''Girls'')

Short story collections

* ''Hardwater Country - stories'', New York: Knopf (1979) * ''Too Late American Boyhood Blues: ten stories'', David R. Godine (1984) * ''Absent Friends'', NY: Knopf (1989) * ''Children in the Woods: New and Selected Stories'', Ticknor & Fields (1994) * ''Don't Tell Anyone: Short Stories and a Novella'', W. W. Norton & Co (2000) * ''Rescue Missions'', W. W. Norton & Co (2006) * ''The Stories of Frederick Busch'', W. W. Norton & Co (2013)

Non-fiction

*''Hawkes: A Guide to his Fictions'',

Syracuse University Press Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. History SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley pro ...

(1973) * ''A Dangerous Profession: A Book about the Writing Life'', St. Martin’s Press (1998) * ''Letters to a Fiction Writer'', edited by Frederick Busch; W. W. Norton & Co (1999)

References

External links

Donald J. and Ellen Greiner collection of Frederick Busch
at the University of South Carolina Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Interview with Frederick Busch

* ttp://www.colgate.edu/DesktopDefault1.aspx?tabid=730&pgID=6013&nwID=4752 "Colgate professor, novelist Frederick Busch dies at age 64" (Colgate 02/26/2006)
A Writer’s Writer: A Eulogy for Frederick Busch

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Frederick 1941 births 2006 deaths Colgate University alumni 20th-century American novelists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Writers from New York City Jewish American novelists 21st-century American novelists PEN/Malamud Award winners American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Muhlenberg College alumni Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews