Jonathan Strong (1944) is an American author of novels and short stories.

Personal life

Jonathan Strong was born in 1944. He was raised in

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second ...

, where he attended

North Shore Country Day School North Shore Country Day School is a selective prep school in Winnetka, Illinois. It took its current form as a coeducational school in 1919 during the Country Day School movement, though it started as the Rugby School for Boys (1893-1900) and Gi ...

. He enrolled at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1962, but dropped out in the middle of his senior year as his writing career advanced. He returned to Harvard and earned his bachelor's degree in 1969. That year, he began his long career teaching fiction-writing at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

. Strong lives in

Rockport, Massachusetts Rockport is a seaside town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,992 in 2020. Rockport is located approximately northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. Rockport borders Gloucester to its west, and ...

, and West Corinth, Vermont.

Written work

Strong's first short story, "Supperburger," was published in the ''Parisian Review'' (1966). The following year it won an

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

. It has since been analogized and, according to literary critic James Morrison, has become "a kind of classic in gay fiction." Strong's first novel, ''Tike and Five Short Stories'' (1968), won 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 headq ...

’ Rosenthal Award. In 1970, Strong's short story "Patients," published in ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', won another O. Henry Award. Strong published his second novel, ''Ourselves'', in 1971. Annie Gottlieb, a reviewer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', called it "probably the best book yet to come out of my generation." After those early successes, it was fourteen years until Strong published another novel, although he continued to publish stories in periodicals including ''

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 ...

'' and ''Shenandoah''. His reappearance as a novelist begin with ''Elsewhere'' (1985). Strong's next six novels were published with Zoland Books; ''Secret Words'' (1993), ''Companion Pieces'' (1993), ''An Untold Tale'' (1993), ''Offspring'' (1995), ''The Old World'' (1997), and ''A Circle Around Her'' (2000). Zoland stopped publishing new books in 2001. His more recent works, all with small presses, include ''Drawn from Life'' (2008), ''Consolation'' (2010), ''More Light'' (2011), ''Hawkweed and Indian Paintbrush'' (2013), ''The Judge’s House'' (2015), ''Quit the Race'' (2017), and ''Four Last Songs'' (2020). In a 2011 interview, Morrison said that Strong was "among the most underrated writers in the country."

References

{{morecat, date=November 2023 Living people Tufts University faculty Harvard College alumni 1944 births