Go to mnhs.org Home Become a Member Give a Gift Shop
Home
Feedback
FAQ


Metronet
Minnesota Humanities Commission

J. F. Powers

Biographical Notes

Date of birth: July 8, 1917, Jacksonville, Illinois
Date of death: June 12, 1999, Collegeville, Minnesota

J. F. Powers James Farl Powers. Author. Studied at Quincy College Academy, Wright Junior College, and Northwestern University in Chicago, 1935-41. Spent thirteen months in jail as a conscientious objector for refusing to join the military in World War II. Many of his writings touch on aspects of the Catholic Church. Briefly taught creative writing at St. John's University in 1947, then taught creative writing at several other universities, and returned to St. John's University and the College of Saint Benedict as RegentsÂ’ Professor of English and writer-in-residence, 1975-93. Lions, Harts, Leaping Does, was selected for inclusion in the O. Henry Prize Stories of 1944; National Book Award, 1963 (Morte d'Urban), his first novel, which was set in Minnesota; National Book Award nomination for fiction, 1988 (Wheat that Springeth Green); Wethersfield Institute Award for outstanding literary achievement, 1989. Honorary Litt.D., St. JohnÂ’s University, 1989.

Selected Works

When you click on the titles below, you will exit the Minnesota Historical Society web site and go to the Minnesota Statewide Project for Automated Library Systems (Web PALS) Web Database. Title searches link directly to our catalog record. Please click on your browser's back button to return.
J. F. Powers book cover

Additional Resources

Sources used to prepare this author entry

The following bibliography may include links to Web sites that are no longer operable or have changed location. The sources are shown as they existed in the fall of 1999 when the entries were compiled.
  • Barron, Ron. A Guide to Minnesota Writers: Expanded and Revised. Minnesota: Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, 1993.
  • Minneapolis Star Tribune, 16 June 1999, p. 13A.
  • Minneapolis Star Tribune, 22 June 1999, p. 13A.
  • St. Paul Pioneer Press, 16 June 1999, p. 1A.
  • Saint John's University. Online Connections. 8 July 1999. 6 Jan. 2000. http://www.csbsju.edu/connections/past/7899/currentissue.htm
  • St. Paul Pioneer Press, 15 June 1947, Section 2, p. 9.
  • South Dakota Review, Spring 1967, Vol. 5, no. 1, p. 3-19. Vermillion, S.D.: University of South Dakota.
This pilot database compiled and maintained by the Minnesota Historical Society.
snubnosed