John Irving
Intermingling heartbreaking tragedy and surreal comedy, often on the
same page, John Irving is one of those rare and gifted writers who
can make his readers cry and laugh at the same time.
Born in New Hampshire in 1942, Irving graduated from the University of New Hampshire and the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published when he was just 26. Since then, the prolific author has published numerous bestsellers, including The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, The Cider House Rules and Trying to Save Piggy Sneed. The movie screenplay that he wrote for The Cider House Rules won the novelist an Academy Award in 1999.
Over his 35-year career, Irving has also been honored with a Rockefeller Foundation Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship and an O. Henry Award in 1981 for Prize Stories. A three-time nominee for the prestigious National Book Award, he won for the paperback edition of The World According to Garp in 1980.
A competitive wrestler for 20 years and a coach of the sport until the age of 47, Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992. The married father of three and his family split their time between homes in Toronto and southern Vermont.