James Alan McPherson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1943-09-16)September 16, 1943 |
| Died | July 27, 2016(2016-07-27) (aged 72) Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Education | Morgan State University Morris Brown College (BA) Harvard University (LLB) University of Iowa (MFA) |
| Period | 1968–2016 |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Notable works | Elbow Room |
| Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize in Fiction MacArthur Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Spouse | Sarah Charlton (div) |
| Children | 2 |
James Alan McPherson (September 16, 1943 – July 27, 2016) was an American essayist and short-story writer. He was the firstAfrican-American writer to win thePulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was included among the first group of artists who received aMacArthur Fellowship. At the time of his death, McPherson was aprofessor emeritus of fiction at theIowa Writers' Workshop.[1]
McPherson was born inSavannah, Georgia, on September 16, 1943, the second of four children.[2] His father was amaster electrician (the first African-American so recognized in Georgia),[3] and his mother (born Mabel Small) was a maid.[1] While McPherson was growing up, his father struggled with alcohol and spent time in jail. In the essay "Going Up To Atlanta," McPherson describes the many odd jobs he took on during this time to help support his mother, brother, and sisters.[3] But it was his discovery of the "colored branch" of the public library that changed his life. When he started reading books, McPherson learned that words, even without pictures, "gave up their secret meanings, spoke of other worlds, made me know that pain was a part of other people's lives."[3]
He attendedMorgan State University from 1963 to 1964 before receiving his undergraduate degree in history and English fromMorris Brown College in 1965.[4] In 1968, McPherson received aLL.B. fromHarvard Law School, where he partially financed his studies by working as a janitor.[2]
While at Harvard, McPherson studied fiction writing with Alan Lebowitz in 1967 and worked on his stories when he found some spare time. It was the publication of his short story "Gold Coast" inThe Atlantic Monthly, following an "open reading" competition they had sponsored, that first brought him public recognition. During this period, McPherson established a close working relationship with Edward Weeks, an editor atThe Atlantic Monthly, which led to McPherson becoming a contributing editor at that magazine in 1969.[3] His fiction would go on to appear in numerous journals and magazines throughout the following decade. Many of his stories were anthologized, beginning with "Gold Coast" when it appeared inThe Best American Stories in 1969.[2] His first collection of short stories,Hue and Cry, was published by Atlantic Monthly Press that year.
In 1971, he received anM.F.A. in fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he studied briefly with the short-story writer and novelistRichard Yates.[3] While studying creative writing, McPherson decided not to practice law; however, he would continue to utilize his legal training in various projects.[4] In a 1972Atlantic Monthly essay, he exposed exploitative business practices against black homeowners, presaging the later work ofTa-Nehisi Coates.[5]
During this period in his life, he gained the attention ofRalph Ellison (1913–1994), who became both a friend and mentor to the young McPherson. In December 1970, McPherson interviewed Ellison[3] for anAtlantic Monthly cover story and collaborated with him on the essay "Invisible Man."[4] This relationship with Ellison would have a lasting influence on his own life and work, as McPherson acknowledges in his essay "Gravitas," which he published in 1999 as both a tribute to the (then) recently deceased writer, and to observe the posthumous publication of Ellison's novelJuneteenth that same year.[5][6] McPherson also initiated a friendship withAlbert Murray shortly after the publication of Murray'sThe Omni-Americans: Black Experience & American Culture (1970).[3][7]
McPherson taught English and creative writing at theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz (assistant professor; 1969–1971), theHarvard University summer school (1972), Morgan State University (assistant professor; 1975–1976) and theUniversity of Virginia (associate professor; 1976–1981) before joining the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1981,[8] with whom he was associated for the remainder of his life. He served as acting director of the program for two years following the death ofFrank Conroy in 2005.[3] Following the publication ofElbow Room (his final collection of fiction) in 1977, McPherson primarily focused on his teaching career, with theChicago Tribune characterizing him as being "only slightly more gregarious thanJ.D. Salinger."[5]
He was also a visiting scholar atYale Law School (1978–1979) and a fellow atStanford University'sCenter for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (1997–1998; 2002–2003). Significantly, McPherson lectured inJapan (atMeiji University andChiba University), a country whose society and culture profoundly affected him.[9] It was in Japan, he once wrote, where he went to lay down "the burden carried by all black Americans, especially the males."[5]
Crabcakes: A Memoir, his first original work sinceElbow Room, was published in 1998. His final book (A Region Not Home: Reflections on Exile, an essay collection) was published in 2000.
In 1972, McPherson was awarded aGuggenheim Fellowship.[10] He received thePulitzer Prize in 1978 for his short story collectionElbow Room, becoming the first black writer to receive the program's Fiction Prize.[1][4][11]
He was the recipient of aMacArthur Fellowship in 1981,[12] a member of the first group (21 recipients in all) ever selected for one of the MacArthur Foundation's so-called "genius grants."[1] In 1995, McPherson was inducted into theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[13] In 2000,John Updike selected McPherson's short story "Gold Coast" for his collectionBest American Short Stories of the Century (Houghton Mifflin).[14]
In October 2011, McPherson was honored as the inaugural recipient of thePaul Engle Award from the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. According to the citation:
TheEngle Award honors an individual who, like Engle, longtime director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and co-founder of theInternational Writing Program at theUniversity of Iowa, represents a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or teaching, and whose active participation in the larger issues of the day has contributed to the betterment of the world through the literary arts.[15]
In 2020, an Iowa City park was renovated and renamed after McPherson. Previously Creekside Park, James Alan McPherson Park serves as a memorial and a gathering space for the community.[16]
McPherson died inhospice on July 27, 2016, inIowa City, Iowa, due to complications ofpneumonia. He was 72.[1][17] He is survived by a daughter, Rachel McPherson (a child from his first marriage to the former Sarah Charlton, which had ended in divorce); a son from another relationship, Benjamin Miyamoto; a sister; and a brother.[5]
| Title | Publication | Collected in |
|---|---|---|
| "Gold Coast" | The Atlantic (November 1968) | Hue and Cry |
| "A Matter of Vocabulary" | The Atlantic (February 1969) | |
| "Of Cabbages and Kings" | The Atlantic (April 1969) | |
| "On Trains" | Hue and Cry (Summer 1969) | |
| "A Solo Song: For Doc" | ||
| "All the Lonely People" | ||
| "An Act of Prostitution" | ||
| "Private Domain" | ||
| "A New Place" | ||
| "Hue and Cry" | ||
| "The Silver Bullet" | Playboy (July 1972) | Elbow Room |
| "The Faithful" | The Atlantic (April 1973) | |
| "The Story of a Scar" | The Atlantic (December 1973) | |
| "Why I Like Country Music" | The Harvard Advocate (Winter 1974) | |
| "I Am an American" | Ploughshares 2.2 (1974) | |
| "Problems of Art" | The Iowa Review 6.2 (Spring 1975) | |
| "A Sense of Story" | The Massachusetts Review 18.3 (Autumn 1977) | |
| "The Story of a Dead Man" | Elbow Room (Autumn 1977) | |
| "Widows and Orphans" | ||
| "A Loaf of Bread" | ||
| "Just Enough for the City" | ||
| "Elbow Room" | ||
| "There Was Once a State Called Franklin" | Callaloo 2.2 (May 1979) | - |
