Raymond Carver
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Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American
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 and
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About When We Talk About Love'' (1981), received immediate acclaim and established Carver as an important figure in the literary world. It was followed by ''
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'' (1983), which Carver considered his watershed and is widely regarded as his masterpiece. The definitive collection of his stories, '' Where I'm Calling From'', was published shortly before his death in 1988. In their 1989 nomination of Carver for 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 ...
, the jury concluded, "The revival in recent years of the short story is attributable in great measure to Carver's mastery of the form."


Early life

Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mill town on the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
, and grew up in
Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...
, the son of Ella Beatrice Carter (née Casey) and Clevie Raymond Carver. His father, a
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
worker from
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, was a fisherman and a heavy drinker. Carver's mother worked on and off as a waitress and a retail clerk. His brother, James Franklin Carver, was born in 1943. Carver was educated at local schools in Yakima. In his spare time, he read mostly novels by Mickey Spillane or publications such as '' Sports Afield'' and '' Outdoor Life'', and hunted and fished with friends and family. After graduating from Yakima High School in 1956, Carver worked with his father at a sawmill in California. In June 1957, at age 19, he married 16-year-old Maryann Burk, who had just graduated from a private Episcopal school for girls. Their daughter, Christine La Rae, was born in December 1957. Their second child, a boy named Vance Lindsay, was born a year later. Carver worked as a delivery man, janitor,
library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
assistant, and sawmill laborer, while Maryann worked as an administrative assistant, high school English teacher, salesperson, and waitress.


Writing career

Carver moved to Paradise, California, with his family in 1958 to be close to his mother-in-law. He became interested in writing while attending Chico State College and enrolled in a
creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...
course taught by the novelist John Gardner, then a recent doctoral graduate of the
Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...
, who became a mentor and had a major influence on Carver's life and career. In 1961, Carver's first published story, "The Furious Seasons", appeared. More florid than his later work, the story strongly bore the influence of
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
. "Furious Seasons" was later used as a title for a collection of stories published by Capra Press, and is part of the collection, ''No Heroics, Please'' and ''Call If You Need Me''. Carver continued his studies under the short story writer Richard Cortez Day (alumnus of the Iowa program) beginning in autumn 1960 at Humboldt State College in Arcata. He chose not to take the foreign language courses required by the English program and received a B.A. in general studies in 1963. During this period he was first published and served as editor for ''Toyon,'' the college's literary magazine, in which he published several of his own pieces under his own name as well as the pseudonym John Vale. With his B-minus average, exacerbated by his penchant to forsake coursework for literary endeavors, ballasted by a sterling recommendation from Day, Carver was accepted into the Iowa Writers' Workshop on a $1,000 fellowship for the 1963–1964 academic year. Homesick for California and unable to fully adjust to the program's
upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...
milieu, he only completed 12 credits out of the 30 required for a M.A. degree or 60 for the M.F.A. degree. Although program director Paul Engle awarded him a fellowship for a second year of study after Maryann Carver personally interceded and compared her husband's plight to
Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...
' deleterious experience in the program three decades earlier, Carver decided to leave the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
at the end of the semester. According to biographer Carol Sklenicka, Carver falsely claimed to have received an M.F.A. from Iowa in 1966 on later ''curricula vitae''. Maryann, who postponed completing her education to support her husband's educational and literary endeavors, eventually graduated from San Jose State College in 1970 and taught English at Los Altos High School until 1977. After completing graduate work at Stanford, she briefly enrolled in the
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...
's English doctoral program when Carver taught at the institution as a visiting lecturer in 1974. In the mid-1960s, Carver and his family resided in
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
, where he briefly worked at a bookstore before taking a position as a night custodian at Mercy Hospital. He did all of the janitorial work in the first hour and then wrote through the rest of his shift. He audited classes at what was then Sacramento State College, including workshops with poet Dennis Schmitz. Carver and Schmitz soon became friends, and Carver wrote and published his first book of poems, ''Near Klamath'', under Schmitz's guidance. 1967 was a landmark year for Carver with the appearance of "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" in Martha Foley's annual '' Best American Short Stories'' anthology and the impending publication of ''Near Klamath'' by the English Club of Sacramento State College. He briefly enrolled in the
library science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...
graduate program at the University of Iowa that summer but returned to California following the death of his father. Shortly thereafter, the Carvers relocated to
Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
, California, so he could take his first white-collar job, at Science Research Associates, a subsidiary of
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
in nearby
Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...
, where he worked intermittently as a textbook editor and public relations director through 1970. Following a 1968 sojourn to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, the Carvers relocated to
San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
; as Maryann finished her undergraduate degree, he continued his graduate studies in library science at San Jose State through the end of 1969 before failing once again to take a degree. During this period, he established vital literary connections with Gordon Lish, who worked across the street from Carver as director of linguistic research at Behavioral Research Laboratories, and the poet/publisher George Hitchcock. After the publication of "Neighbors" in the June 1971 issue of ''
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 ...
'' at the instigation of Lish (by now ensconced as the magazine's fiction editor), Carver began to teach at the
University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...
at the behest of provost James B. Hall, an Iowa alumnus and early mentor to
Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...
at the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
, commuting from his new home in Sunnyvale, California. Having endured a succession of failed applications to the
Stegner Fellowship The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner (1909–1993), a historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty m ...
, Carver was admitted to the prestigious non-degree
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
graduate creative writing program for the 1972–1973 term, where he cultivated friendships with Kesey-era luminaries Ed McClanahan and Gurney Norman in addition to contemporaneous fellows Chuck Kinder, Max Crawford, and William Kittredge. The $4,000 stipend enabled the Carvers to buy a house in Cupertino, California. He also took on another teaching job at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
that year and briefly rented a pied-à-terre in the city; this development was precipitated by his initiation of an extramarital affair with Diane Cecily, a
University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...
administrator and mutual friend of Kittredge who would subsequently marry Kinder. During his years of working at miscellaneous jobs, rearing children, and trying to write, Carver started abusing alcohol. By his own admission, he gave up writing and took to full-time drinking. In the fall semester of 1973, Carver was a visiting lecturer in the Iowa Writers' Workshop with
John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs ...
, but Carver stated that they did less teaching than drinking and almost no writing. With the assistance of Kinder and Kittredge, he attempted to simultaneously commute to Berkeley and maintain his lectureship at Santa Cruz; after missing all but a handful of classes due to the inherent logistical hurdles of this arrangement and various alcohol-related illnesses, Hall gently enjoined Carver to resign his position. The next year, after leaving Iowa City, Carver went to a treatment center to attempt to overcome his
alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
, but continued drinking for another three years. His first short story collection, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', was published in 1976. The collection itself was shortlisted for the
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. ...
, though it sold fewer than 5,000 copies that year.


Personal life and death


Decline of first marriage

The following excerpt from Scott Driscoll's review of Maryann Burk Carver's 2006 memoir describes the decline of her and Raymond's marriage. After being hospitalized three times between June 1976 and February or March 1977, Carver began his "second life" and stopped drinking on June 2, 1977, with the help of
Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...
. While he continued to regularly smoke
cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
and later experimented with
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
at the behest of
Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', '' Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last o ...
during a 1980 visit to New York City, Carver believed he would have died of alcoholism at the age of 40 had he not overcome his drinking.


Second marriage

In November 1977, Carver met the poet Tess Gallagher at a writers' conference in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Texas. Gallagher later remembered feeling "as if my life until then had simply been a rehearsal for meeting him." Beginning in January 1979, Carver and Gallagher lived together in
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
, in a borrowed cabin near
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, and in
Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
. In 1980, the two moved to
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...
, where Gallagher had been appointed the coordinator of the creative writing program at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
; Carver taught as a professor in the English department. He and Gallagher jointly purchased a house in Syracuse, at 832 Maryland Avenue. In ensuing years, the house became so popular that the couple had to hang a sign outside that read "Writers At Work" in order to be left alone. In 1982, he and his first wife, Maryann, were divorced. On June 17, 1988, six weeks prior to his death, Carver and Gallagher married in
Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...
.


Death

On August 2, 1988, Carver died in Port Angeles from
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
at the age of 50. In the same year, he was inducted into 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 of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...
. He is buried at Ocean View Cemetery in Port Angeles, Washington. The inscription on his tombstone reads:
LATE FRAGMENT And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.
His poem "Gravy" is also inscribed. As Carver's will directed, Tess Gallagher assumed the management of his literary estate.


Awards and memorials

Carver was nominated for the National Book Award for his first major-press collection, "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please" in 1977 and 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 ...
for his third major-press collection, ''Cathedral'' (1983), the volume generally perceived as his best. Included in the latter collection are the award-winning stories "A Small, Good Thing", and " Where I'm Calling From".
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 ...
selected the latter for inclusion in ''The Best American Short Stories of the Century.'' For his part, Carver perceived ''Cathedral'' as a watershed in his career for its shift toward a more optimistic and confidently poetic style amid the diminution of Lish's literary influence. Carver won five O. Henry Awards with "Are These Actual Miles" (originally titled "What Is It?") (1972), "Put Yourself in My Shoes" (1974), "Are You A Doctor?" (1975), "A Small, Good Thing" (1983), and "Errand" (1988). In Carver's birth town of Clatskanie, Oregon, a memorial park and statue are at the corner of Lillich and Nehalem streets, across from the library. A block away is the building where Carver was born.


Legacy and posthumous publications

In December 2006, Gallagher published an essay in '' The Sun magazine'', titled "Instead of Dying", about alcoholism and Carver's having maintained his sobriety. The essay is an adaptation of a talk she initially delivered at the Welsh Academy's Academi Intoxication Conference in 2006. The first lines read: "Instead of dying from alcohol, Raymond Carver chose to live. I would meet him five months after this choice, so I never knew the Ray who drank, except by report and through the characters and actions of his stories and poems." Chuck Kinder's ''Honeymooners: A Cautionary Tale'' (2001) is a
roman à clef A ''roman à clef'' ( ; ; ) is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people and the "key" is the relationship between the non-fiction and the fiction. This m ...
about his friendship with Carver in the 1970s. Carver's high school sweetheart and first wife, Maryann Burk Carver, wrote a memoir of her years with Carver, ''What it Used to be Like: A Portrait of My Marriage to Raymond Carver'' (2006). In 2009, ''The New York Times Book Review'' and ''San Francisco Chronicle'' named Carol Sklenicka's unauthorized biography, ''Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life'' (2009), published by Scribner, one of the Best Ten Books of that year; and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' deemed it: "exhaustively researched and definitive biography". Carver's widow, Tess Gallagher, refused to engage with Sklenicka. His final (incomplete) collection of seven stories, titled '' Elephant and Other Stories'' in Britain (included in '' Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories'') was composed in the five years before his death. The nature of these stories, especially "Errand", have led to some speculation that Carver was preparing to write a novel. Only one piece of this work has survived – the fragment "The Augustine Notebooks", first printed in ''No Heroics, Please''. Tess Gallagher fought with Knopf for permission to republish the stories in '' What We Talk About When We Talk About Love'' as they were originally written by Carver, as opposed to the heavily edited and altered versions that appeared in 1981 under the editorship of Gordon Lish. On October 1, 2009, the book, entitled '' Beginners'', was released in hardback in Great Britain, followed by its publication in the
Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...
edition which collected all of Carver's short fiction in a single volume. The Raymond Carver Reading Series at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
is a reading series program which annually brings 12 to 14 prominent writers to the campus. It is presented by the ''Creative Writing Program'' in SU's College of Arts and Sciences.


Literary characteristics

Carver's career emphasized short stories and poetry. He described himself as "inclined toward brevity and intensity" and "hooked on writing short stories" (in the foreword of '' Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories'', a collection published in 1988 and a recipient of an honorable mention in the 2006 ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' article citing the best works of fiction of the previous 25 years). Another stated reason for his brevity was "that the story r poemcan be written and read in one sitting." This was not simply a preference but, particularly at the beginning of his career, a practical consideration as he juggled writing with work. His subject matter was often focused on
blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...
experience, and was clearly reflective of his own life. Characteristics of
minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
are generally seen as one of the hallmarks of Carver's work, although, as reviewer David Wiegand notes:
Carver never thought of himself as a minimalist or in any category, for that matter.
"He rejected categories generally," Sklenicka says. "I don't think he had an abstract mind at all. He just wasn't built that way, which is why he's so good at picking the right details that will stand for many things."
Carver's editor at ''
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 ...
'', Gordon Lish, was instrumental in shaping his prose in this direction – where his earlier tutor John Gardner had advised Carver to use fifteen words instead of twenty-five, Lish instructed Carver to use five in place of fifteen. Objecting to the "surgical amputation and transplantation" of Lish's heavy editing, Carver eventually broke with him. During this time, Carver also submitted poetry to
James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet, novelist, critic, and lecturer. He was appointed the 18th United States Poet Laureate in 1966. His other accolades included the National Book Award for Poetry a ...
, then poetry editor of ''Esquire''. Carver's style has also been described as dirty realism, which connected him with a group of writers in the 1970s and 1980s that included
Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, ''Rock Springs (short stories), Rock Springs ...
and Tobias Wolff with both of whom Carver was closely acquainted, as well as others such as
Ann Beattie Ann Beattie (born September 8, 1947) is an American novelist and short story writer. She has received an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the short story ...
, Frederick Barthelme, and Jayne Anne Phillips. With the exception of Beattie, who wrote about upper-middle-class people, these were writers who focused on sadness and loss in the everyday lives of ordinary people—often lower-middle class or isolated and marginalized people. In his essay "On Influence", Carver states that, while he was an admirer of
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
's fiction, he never saw him as an influence, citing instead the work of Lawrence Durrell.


Works


Fiction


Collections

*'' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'' (first published 1976) *''Furious Seasons and Other Stories.'' (Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1977) *'' What We Talk About When We Talk About Love'' (1981) *''
Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
'' (1983) *'' Elephant and Other Stories'' (1988) – this title published only in Great Britain; included as a section of ''Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories'' in the U.S. * '' Beginners'' (2009)


Compilations

*'' Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories'' (1988) *''Short Cuts: Selected Stories'' (1993) – published to accompany the Robert Altman film '' Short Cuts'' *''Collected Stories'' (2009) – complete short fiction including ''Beginners'' (see section above for wiki-link)


Poetry


Collections

*''Near Klamath'' (1968) *''Winter Insomnia'' (1970) *''At Night The Salmon Move'' (1976) *''Fires'' (1983) *''Where Water Comes Together With Other Water'' (1985) *''Ultramarine'' (1986) *''A New Path To The Waterfall'' (1989) *''Gravy'' (Unknown year)


Compilations

*''In a Marine Light: Selected Poems'' (1988) *''All of Us: The Collected Poems'' (1996)


Screenplays

*''Dostoevsky'' (1982, with Tess Gallagher) (published in 1985) *''Purple Lake'' (1983, with
Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( , ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. He achieved fame as the director of ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and ...
) (unpublished)


Films and theatre adaptations

*''I Could See the Smallest Things...'' a 1982
Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...
stage production based on five stories from Carver's ''What We Talk About When We Talk About Love'' *'' Short Cuts'' directed by
Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...
(1993), based on nine Carver short stories and a poem *'' Everything Goes'' directed by Andrew Kotatko (2004), starring Hugo Weaving,
Abbie Cornish Abigail Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. In film, Cornish is known for her roles as Heidi in ''Somersault (film), Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in ''Bright Star (film), Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch ...
and Sullivan Stapleton based on Carver's short story " Why Don't You Dance?" *'' Jindabyne'' directed by Ray Lawrence (2006), based on Carver's short story "So Much Water So Close to Home" *'' Everything Must Go'' directed by Dan Rush (2010), and starring
Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...
, based on Carver's short story "Why Don't You Dance?" *'' Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'', directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, depicts the mounting of a Broadway production of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" as its central storyline. The film's main character, Riggan Thomson, attributes his choice of acting as a profession to a complimentary note he once received from Raymond Carver written on a cocktail napkin. The film also preludes with Carver's poem "Late Fragment." In February 2015, ''Birdman'' won four Oscars, including the
Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...
. *'' Whoever Was Using This Bed'', directed by Andrew Kotatko (2016), starring Jean-Marc Barr, Radha Mitchell and
Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...
, based on Carver's short story of the same name


References


Further reading

*Amir, Ayala (2010). ''The Visual Poetics of Raymond Carver''. Lexington Books. * ** A review. * * * * Miceli, Barbara. "Rivers, Memories and Reflections in Raymond Carver's ''Where Water Comes Together with Other Water"'' in ''Comparative American Studies' (2021), pp. 1–9. * * * * * * *


External links


Raymond Carver Papers
at The Ohio State University's Rare Books & Manuscripts Library * * * A review of ''Raymond Carver A Writer's Life'' by Carol Sklenicka and of ''Raymond Carver Collected Stories'' edited by William L. Stull and Maureen P. Carroll * Carver talks about his father, his early writing, his characters, and the "dark humour" in some of his stories. * Provides numerous links to Carver sites on the web and links to his work * * * * A review of ''Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life'' by Carol Sklenicka and ''Raymond Carver Collected Stories'' edited by William L. Stull and Maureen P. Carroll * * * Historian Carol Polsgrove interviews Carver biographer Carol Sklenicka * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carver, Raymond 1938 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers Alcohol abuse American male short story writers California State University, Chico alumni California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt alumni Deaths from lung cancer in Washington (state) Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Minimalist writers O. Henry Award winners People from Clatskanie, Oregon People from Cupertino, California People from Paradise, California People from Yakima, Washington Stegner Fellows Syracuse University faculty Writers from California Writers from Oregon Writers from Port Angeles, Washington Writers from Washington (state)