Wrote dozens of novels, mostly set in his native North Carolina. Taught at Duke for decades, where his students included Josephine Humphreys. Toward the end, spinal cancer left him a paraplegic.
[1] Came out in his last book, 2009's Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back. Said he had been reluctant to mention his sexuality before then, because "I wanted to be very careful about not invading anyone else's privacy or making anyone more unhappy than seemed necessary."Brother: Will
University: BA, Duke University (1955)
University: B Litt, Merton College, Oxford University (1958)
Professor: Duke University
American Academy of Arts and Letters
National Book Critics Circle Award 1986 for Kate Vaiden
Rhodes Scholarship
Author of books:
A Long and Happy Life (1962, novel)
The Names and Faces of Heroes (1963, short stories)
A Generous Man (1966, novel)
Love and Work (1968, novel)
Permanent Errors (1970)
Things Themselves (1972)
The Surface of Earth (1975, novel, A Great Circle)
Early Dark (1977)
A Palpable God (1978, biblical translations)
The Source of Light (1981, novel, A Great Circle)
Vital Provisions (1982, poetry)
Mustian (1983)
Kate Vaiden (1986, novel)
The Laws of Ice (1986, poetry)
A Common Room (1987)
Good Hearts (1988, novel)
Clear Pictures (1989, memoir)
The Tongues of Angels (1990, novel)
The Use of Fire (1990, poetry)
New Music (1990, drama)
The Foreseeable Future (1991, short stories)
Blue Calhoun (1992)
The Collected Stories (1993, short stories)
A Whole New Life (1994, memoir)
The Promise of Rest (1995, novel, A Great Circle)
Three Gospels (1996, biblical translations)
The Collected Poems (1997, poetry)
Roxanna Slade (1998)
Letter to a Man in the Fire: Does God Exist and Does He Care? (1999, essay)
Feasting the Heart (2000, essays)
Learning a Trade: A Craftsman's Notebooks, 1955-1997 (2000)
A Perfect Friend (2000, juvenile)
Noble Norfleet (2002)
A Serious Way of Wondering: The Ethics of Jesus Imagined (2003)
The Good Priest's Son (2005)
Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back (2009)
Wrote plays:
Private Contentment (1984, television play)
Full Moon (1993)