RUSSELL BANKS Biography - Writers

 
 

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RUSSELL BANKS

Name: Russell Banks                                                               
Born: March 28, 1940                                                               
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
Russell Banks (born March 28, 1940 in Newton, Massachusetts) is an American       
writer of fiction and poetry. He is president of the International Parliament of   
Writers and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has     
been translated into twenty languages and has received numerous international     
prizes and awards. His main works include the novels Continental Drift, Rule of   
the Bone, Cloudsplitter, The Sweet Hereafter, and Affliction. The latter two       
novels were each made into feature films in 1997; see Affliction (film).           
                                                                                   
Many of Banks' works reflect his working-class upbringing in New England. His     
stories often show people facing tragedy and downturns in everyday life,           
expressing sadness and self-doubt, but also showing resilience and strength in     
the face of their difficulties.                                                   
                                                                                   
Banks has also written short stories, some of which appear in the collection The   
Angel on the Roof, as well as poetry. He has written a movie adaptation of Jack   
Kerouac's On the Road for producer Francis Ford Coppola, which was slated for     
production in 2006. [1] It is not known if Banks's screenplay will be used in     
the final version. Banks's novel The Darling is going to be made into a feature   
film directed by Martin Scorsese, with Cate Blanchett in the main role.           
                                                                                   
Banks was the 1985 recipient of the John Dos Passos Prize for fiction.             
                                                                                   
Banks lives in upstate New York, and has been named a New York State Author. He   
is presently also Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland.