Russell Banks (born March 28, 1940) 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 his 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 is slated for production in 2006. ^* He lives in upstate New York, and has been named a New York State Author.

Works

• 1974 Snow
• 1975 Searching for Survivors
• 1975 Family Life
• 1978 The New World
• 1978 Hamilton Stark
• 1980 The Book of Jamaica
• 1981 Trailerpark
• 1983 The Relation of My Imprisonment
• 1985 Continental Drift
• 1986 Success Stories
• 1989 Affliction
• 1991 The Sweet Hereafter
• 1995 Rule of the Bone
• 1998 Cloudsplitter
• 1998 Invisible Stranger (nonfiction)
• 2000 The Angel on the Roof
• 2004 The Darling

References

• http://www.barclayagency.com/banks.html
• Audio interviews of Russell Banks by Don Swaim
• http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/banksr.html
• Review of Banks' short fiction

1940 births | Living people | American novelists | American poets | American screenwriters | American short story writers | Members of The American Academy of Arts and Letters

Russell Banks | Russell Banks | Russell Banks