Gordon A. Weaver (February 2, 1937 – April 2, 2021) was an American novelist and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer.

Life and career

Weaver was born in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Rock Island County and the List of municipalities in Illinois, ninth-most populous in Illinois outside ...

in February 1937, the fifth of the five children of Noble Rodell Weaver and Inez Katherine Nelson. His family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1941. He graduated from Wauwatosa High School in 1955. After three years service in the United States Army (1955–1958), he graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

in 1961, from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

with an MA in 1962, and from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

with a Ph.D. in 1970. He taught at

Siena College Siena College is a Private college, private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York, United States. It was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937 and is named after the Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena. The college enrolls approxi ...

1963-1965,

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, United States. Its campus encompasses approximately six city blocks next to downtown Marietta and enrolls 1,200 students. History Marietta College began as the Muskin ...

1965-1968,

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

1970–1975,

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

1975–1995, Vermont College 1983-1989, and

1996–2000. He was founding editor of the ''Mississippi Review'', fiction editor of ''Cimarron Review'' from 1975 to 1986, managing editor of the AWP (

Association of Writers & Writing Programs The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is a nonprofit literary organization that provides support, advocacy, resources, and community to nearly 50,000 writers, 500 college and university creative writing programs, and 125 writers' c ...

) Award Series for Short Fiction from 1977 to 1979, and general editor of the Twayne Studies in Short Fiction (Twayne Publishers, Boston/New York) from 1986 to 1997. More than a hundred of his stories have appeared in a wide variety of literary magazines, including ''Agni'', ''Antioch Review'', ''Carolina Quarterly'', ''Confrontation'', ''Georgia Review'', ''Iowa Review'', ''The Literary Review'', ''New Letters'', ''Ploughshares'', and ''Southwest Review''. His novel ''Count a Lonely Cadence'', was adapted for the movie ''

Cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

'', starring

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is known as a leading man in film and television. Sheen has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award as well as ...

. Weaver was the father of three daughters. He retired to the Milwaukee area in the 1990s and died in April 2021. His papers are held at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Awards

* St. Lawrence Award for Fiction (1973) * Quarterly West Fiction Prize (1978) * O. Henry First Prize (1978) *

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

in 1985 and 1997 *

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 ...

1980 for "Hog's Heart" *

National Endowment of the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

fellowships in 1974 and 1989 * 1979 O. Henry Award * Sherwood Anderson Award (1982) * Quarterly West Novella Prize (1984) * 2002 James C. McCormick Fellowship in Fiction (Christopher Isherwood Foundation). * Andrew Lytle Fiction Prize (2007)

Works

Novels

* * * * ** republished in a second edition by Serving House Books, 2015. ISBN 978-0986214608

Short stories

* * * * * * * * * *

Poetry

Non-fiction

Adaptations

* The movie ''

'' was based on Weaver's novel ''Count a Lonely Cadence''.

References

External links

"Interview", ''Pif magazine''
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Gordon 1937 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers American male novelists American male short story writers Novelists from Mississippi Novelists from Oklahoma Novelists from Wisconsin O. Henry Award winners Oklahoma State University faculty University of Denver alumni University of Illinois alumni University of Southern Mississippi faculty University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee faculty People from Moline, Illinois