John Updike

JOHN UPDIKE s-a nascut in 1932 in Shillington, Pennsylvania. A studiat literatura engleza la Harvard, apoi arta grafica la Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, la Oxford. S-a intors in Statele Unite in 1955 si a lucrat vreme de doi ani la prestigioasa revista The New Yorker. A debutat cu volumul de versuri The Carpentered Hen and Other Tame Creatures. Primul sau roman, The Poorhouse Fair, a fost publicat in 1959. Opera sa in proza cuprinde "ciclul Rabbit" -- Fugi, Rabbit (Rabbit,Run, 1960; Humanitas Fiction, 2008), Intoarcerea lui Rabbit (Rabbit Redux, 1971), Rabbit Is Rich (1981, Pulitzer Prize 1982), Rabbit At Rest (1990, Pulitzer Prize 1991) --, The Centaur (1963), Of The Farm (1965), Couples (1968), Bech: A Book (1970), Museums and Women (1972), A Month Of Sundays (1975), Marry Me (1976), Toward the End of Time (1977), The Coup (1978), Bech is Back (1982), Vrajitoarele din Eastwick (The Witches of Eastwick, 1984; Humanitas Fiction, 2007), Roger's Version (1986), S. (1988), Bech at Bay: A Quasi-Novel (1998), Gertrude and Claudius (2000), Licks of Love (2000, volum ce cuprinde si nuvela Rabbit Remembered), Seek My Face (2002), Villages (2004), Teroristul (The Terrorist, 2004; Humanitas Fiction, 2007), The Widows of Eastwick (2008) etc. Printre volumele sale de poezie se numara: Telephone Poles and Other Poems (1963), Midpoint (1969) si Tossing and Turning (1977). John Updike a calatorit mult in calitate de ambasador al Statelor Unite, iar in 1974 a semnat, alaturi de alti scriitori americani, un protest adresat guvernului sovietic, in care erau condamnate masurile represive luate impotriva lui Aleksandr Soljenitin. Cartile sale au fost distinse cu PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, American Book Award si National Book Critics Circle Award si sunt traduse in intreaga lume. John Updike a incetat din viata marti, 27 ianuarie 2009.