Robert Hellenga (August 5, 1941 – July 18, 2020) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

ist, 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 ...

author. His eight novels included ''The Sixteen Pleasures'', ''The Fall of a Sparrow'', ''Blues Lessons'', '' Philosophy Made Simple'', ''The Italian Lover'', ''Snakewoman of Little Egypt'', ''The Confessions of Frances Godwin'' and ''Love, Death, & Rare Books''. In addition to these works, he wrote a novella, ''Six Weeks in Verona'', along with a collection of short stories in ''The Truth About Death and Other Stories''. Hellenga also published scholarly essays and literary or travel essays in various venues, including ''The National Geographic Traveler'', ''The New York Times Sophisticated Traveler'', and ''

The Gettysburg Review ''The Gettysburg Review'' was a quarterly literary magazine featuring short stories, poetry, essays and reviews. Work that appeared in the magazine has been reprinted in "best-of" anthologies and received awards. The magazine was "recognized ...

''. Hellenga was born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and grew up in Milwaukee and

Three Oaks, Michigan Three Oaks is a village in Three Oaks Township, Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,370 at the 2020 census. The village of Three Oaks is located in the southwest corner of Michigan, just 5 miles from the shores o ...

. He did his undergraduate work at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and his graduate work at the Queen’s University of Belfast, the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

, and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton and began teaching English literature at Knox College in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal cit ...

, in 1968.Robert Hellenga Biography on Encyclopedia.com
/ref> In 1973–74 he was co-director of the ACM Seminar in the Humanities at the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wo ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and in 1982–83 he directed the ACM Florence programs in

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

. He also worked and studied in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He was distinguished writer in residence and professor emeritus at Knox College. Hellenga was married and had three daughters. Hellenga received awards for his fiction from the

Illinois Arts Council The Illinois Arts Council is a government agency of the state of Illinois formed to encourage development of the arts throughout Illinois. Founded in 1965 by the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Arts Council provides financial and technica ...

and from the

National Endowment for 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 ...

. ''The Sixteen Pleasures'' received The Society of Midland Authors Award for Fiction published in 1994. ''The Fall of a Sparrow'' was included in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' list of the "Best Fiction of 1998" and the ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' list of the "Best 98 Books." ''Snakewoman of Little Egypt'', was included in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''s list of "The Best Novels of 2010" and ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' list of "2010 Best Fiction: The Top 25." The audio version of ''Snakewoman'' was a 2011

Audie Award The Audie Awards (, rhymes with "gaudy"; abbreviated from ''audiobook''), or simply the Audies, are awards for achievement in spoken word, particularly audiobook narration and audiodrama performance, published in the United States of America. They ...

Winner for Literary Fiction. The ''Confessions of Frances Godwin'' received The Society of Midland Authors' Award for fiction published in 2014. Hellenga died of

neuroendocrine cancer Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems. They most commonly occur in the intestine, where they are often called carcinoid tumors, but they are also found in the pancreas, lun ...

on July 18, 2020, at his home in

.In Memoriam: Robert Hellenga 1941-2020
/ref>

References

External links

Encyclopedia.com entry''Poets and Writers'' Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellenga, Robert 1941 births 2020 deaths Writers from Milwaukee People from Galesburg, Illinois University of Michigan alumni Knox College (Illinois) faculty Novelists from Illinois 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 21st-century American novelists People from Three Oaks, Michigan Novelists from Michigan 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Wisconsin