William Styron

William Styron is an American novelist, born in Newport News, Virginia on June 11, 1925. He is best known for two controversial novels: the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), narrated by Nat Turner, the leader of an 1831 Virginia slave revolt, and Sophie's Choice (1979) which deals with the Holocaust.

Early years

William Styron was born in Newport News, Virginia, not far from the site of Nat Turner?s slave rebellion, later the source for his most famous and controversial novel. Though Styron?s paternal grandparents had been slave owners, his Northern mother and liberal Southern father gave him a broad perspective on race relations unusual for his generation. Styron?s childhood was a difficult one: his father, a shipyard engineer, suffered from the clinical depression Styron himself would later inherit, and his mother died of cancer before Styron?s fourteenth birthday.

Related Topics:
Northern - Southern - Clinical depression - Cancer

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His father soon sent the increasingly rebellious Styron to an Episcopal preparatory school, the first of several. On graduation, Styron enrolled in Davidson College, but eventually dropped out to join the Marines toward the end of World War II. Though Styron was made a lieutenant, the Japanese surrendered before Styron?s ship even left San Francisco. Styron then enrolled in Duke University, which would later grant him a B.A. in English; here Styron also published his first fiction, a short story heavily influenced by William Faulkner, in an anthology of student work.

Related Topics:
Episcopal - Preparatory school - Davidson College - Marines - World War II - Lieutenant - Japanese - San Francisco - Duke University - B.A. - English - William Faulkner

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