The American novelist, short story writer and poet Russell Banks, author in particular of ” Beautiful tomorrows » and D'” Affliction died on Saturday January 7, 2023, at the age of 82, from cancer. The announcement of his death was made by his editor Dan Halpern, to the Associated Press agency, Relayed in France by “Le Monde”.
The author of “Adrift Continents” and “Cloud Slayer” is “passed away peacefully at his home in upstate New York”writer Joyce Carol Oates also announced on Sunday morning.
“All of his work was exceptional”she greeted on Twitter.
John-Dos-Passos Prize in 1995
Born on March 28, 1940 in Newton, Massachusetts, the work of Russell Banks, a great figure in contemporary literature, known for his portraits of the working class, is also marked by the abandonment of his father, who fled the family home. before his 12th birthday.
Plumber, just like this absent father, in his youth, he discovered reading at the age of 18, in a library in Miami, recalls “Le Monde”. Then he begins to write. Novelist, short story writer and poet, Russell Banks loved to tell the hardships of the working class through characters who struggle with poverty, drug addiction, class and race issues.
Russel Banks has published almost twenty books in 47 years, since Family Life » in 1975, denouncing the social, family, material or symbolic violence that plagues his country.
The author won the John-Dos-Passos prize in 1995 (which annually rewards an American author who has not received, in mid-career, all the attention he deserves) and many other awards. Two of his works have also been the subject of films widely acclaimed by critics.
