Japanese Literary Awards

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William Kent Krueger

ウィリアム・K・クルーガー

Uiriamu K Kurūgā

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1950-11-16 (Trinton, Wyoming, United States)
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

Career

Occupations
Writer, Author
Active Years
1998-
Memberships
Mystery Writers of America
Influenced By
Ernest Hemingway, Tony Hillerman, James Lee Burke, Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James T. Farrell, Gerald Vizenor, Louise Erdrich, Jim Northrup

Education

Stanford University
Period: 入学後に中退(1970年頃)
Country: United States
Entered Stanford but left during the campus unrest in spring 1970

Awards

Bush Artist Fellowship
1988
Organization: Bush Foundation
Result: 受賞
Loft-McKnight Fiction Award
1998
Work: Iron Lake
Result: 受賞
Minnesota Book Award
1999
Work: Iron Lake
Result: 受賞
Anthony Award (Best First Novel)
1999
Work: Iron Lake
Category: 新人賞
Organization: Bouchercon (Anthony Awards)
Result: 受賞
Barry Award (Best First Novel)
1999
Work: Iron Lake
Category: 新人賞
Organization: Deadly Pleasures (Barry Awards)
Result: 受賞
Friends of American Writers Prize
1999
Work: Iron Lake
Result: 受賞
Anthony Award (Best Novel)
2005
Work: Blood Hollow
Category: 長編賞
Organization: Bouchercon (Anthony Awards)
Result: 受賞
Anthony Award (Best Novel)
2006
Work: Mercy Falls
Category: 長編賞
Organization: Bouchercon (Anthony Awards)
Result: 受賞
Minnesota Book Award
2007
Work: Copper River
Result: 受賞
Dilys Award (nomination)
1999
Work: Iron Lake
Result: ノミネート
Edgar Award (Best Novel)
2014
Work: Ordinary Grace
Category: 長編賞
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞
Macavity Award (Best Mystery Novel)
2014
Work: Ordinary Grace
Category: 長編賞
Organization: Mystery Readers International
Result: 受賞
Barry Award (Best Novel)
2014
Work: Ordinary Grace
Category: 長編賞
Organization: Deadly Pleasures (Barry Awards)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Iron Lake

1998 Mystery

Set in northern Minnesota, the first Cork O'Connor novel introduces former sheriff Cork O'Connor as he becomes embroiled in small-town secrets, personal histories, and a central mystery.

Small-town relationshipsNature and environmentNative American cultureGuilt and redemption
Translations
  • Iron Lake (translated into Japanese by Yuriko Noguchi)

Blood Hollow

2004 Mystery

Another Cork O'Connor entry where past crimes and present mysteries intersect as Cork seeks the truth.

Past traumaFamilyJustice

Ordinary Grace

2013 Literary fiction / Mystery

A coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s Midwest about family, loss, and moral growth. The book contains elements of mystery and won multiple major awards.

Loss and griefComing of ageFaith and morality
Translations
  • Ordinary Grace (translated into Japanese by Akiko Usagawa)

Bibliography

  • Iron Lake
  • Boundary Waters
  • Purgatory Ridge
  • Blood Hollow
  • Mercy Falls
  • Copper River
  • Thunder Bay
  • Red Knife
  • Heaven's Keep
  • Vermilion Drift
  • Northwest Angle
  • Trickster's Point
  • Tamarack County
  • Windigo Island
  • Manitou Canyon
  • Sulpher Springs
  • Desolation Mountain
  • Lightning Strike
  • The Devil's Bed
  • Ordinary Grace
  • This Tender Land

Translations of Works

  • Iron Lake (Japanese translation by Yuriko Noguchi)
  • Boundary Waters (translated into Japanese)
  • Purgatory Ridge (translated into Japanese)
  • Blood Hollow (translated into Japanese)
  • Ordinary Grace (Japanese translation by Akiko Usagawa)
  • This Tender Land (Japanese translation by Akiko Usagawa)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise, rhythmic proseStrong sense of place and regional descriptionCareful interior characterization
Recurring Motifs
Nature and seasonal imageryNative American culture and traditionGuilt and redemptionFamily and community

Legacy

Known for the Cork O'Connor series set in northern Minnesota and for literary standalone novels. Krueger's blending of regional detail with deep human characterization has earned him multiple major mystery and literary awards.

Quotes

  • History was a study in futility. Because people never learned. Century after century, they committed the same atrocities against one another or against the earth, and the only thing that changed was the magnitude of the slaughter... Conscience was a devil that plagued the individual. Collectively, a people squashed it as easily as stepping on a daisy.
    Source: William K. Krueger, Purgatory Ridge (2001)

Trivia

  • He began aspiring to be a writer after a teacher and his parents praised a story he wrote in third grade.
  • Entered Stanford University but left during the student unrest in spring 1970.
  • His debut novel Iron Lake was completed when he was about 40 and won several best-first-novel awards.
  • He has a longstanding habit of writing early mornings at the St. Clair Broiler diner.