Contributor

John Edgar Wideman

John Edgar Wideman’s life is as dramatic as any of his widely acclaimed Faulknerian novels. Born in Pittsburgh to a working-class family, he became the second African-American Rhodes Scholar and a college basketball star, as talented on the court as he was brilliant in the classroom. He is the first writer to win the PEN/Faulkner Award twice, in 1984 for “See You Yesterday” and in 1990 for “Philadelphia Fire.” His nonfiction book, “Brothers and Keepers,” received a National Book Critics Circle nomination, and his memoir, “Father-along,” was a finalist for the National Book Award. His most recent book, “Hoop Roots,” is a memoir. He is a professor of creative writing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a columnist for New York Times Book Review.