277:. Powell regularly gave her birth year as 1897 but primary documents support the earlier date. After her mother died when Powell was seven, she lived with a series of relatives around the state. Her father remarried, but his second wife was harsh and abusive toward the children; when her stepmother destroyed her notebooks and diaries, she ran away to live with an aunt, who encouraged her creative work. Powell later gave her childhood fictional form in the novel
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Dawn Powell wrote hundreds of short stories, ten plays, a dozen novels, and an extended diary starting in 1931. Her writings, however, never generated enough money to live off. Throughout her life, she supported herself with various jobs, including being a freelance writer, an extra in silent films,
307:
On
November 20, 1920, she married Joseph Gousha, an aspiring poet and advertising copy-writer. In 1921, the couple had their only child, Joseph R. Gousha Jr. ("Jojo"), who would today likely be diagnosed with autism. Her husband abandoned poetry for steadier work in advertising, and the family moved
592:, who joined forces with her family to free her manuscripts, diaries, and copyrights from her original executrix. The result was a revival in the late 1990s, when most of Powell's books were made available once more. Her papers are now in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library of
1040:
obituary, published on
November 16, 1965, lists her birth date as November 28, 1897. The Ohio, Births and Christenings Index in Ancestry.com lists her full name as "Marthy Dawn Powell," and her birth date as September 28, 1896. Other U.S. Census data is more
127:(November 28, 1896 – November 14, 1965) was an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and short story writer. Known for her acid-tongued prose, "her relative obscurity was likely due to a general distaste for her harsh satiric tone." Nonetheless,
650:
by
Patricia E. Palermo was published in 2016. It is a compilation of most of the critical work done on Powell, in her day and in ours, and also looks at how she turned her everyday life, discussed in her diaries and letters, into fiction.
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443:, whose central figure—Amanda Keeler Evans, an egotistical hack writer whose work and media presence are bolstered by the assiduous promotion of her husband, the newspaper magnate Julian Evans—is loosely modelled on
312:, which remained her home base for the rest of her life. The Village served as both inspiration and backdrop for most of her writing; some of the key locations in her fiction remain standing today.
1114:, November 16, 1965. "Miss Powell, who had resided in Greenwich Village most of her life, maintained an apartment at 95 Christopher Street, where she did most of her writing in recent years."
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1963 National Book Award nominee, 1964 American
Academy of Arts and Letters presents her with the Marjorie Peabody Waite Award for lifetime achievement in literature
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Marjorie
Peabody Waite Award for lifetime achievement in literature the following year. A friend to many literary and arts figures of her day, including author
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506:, fourteen days before her 69th birthday. Her executrix, Jacqueline Miller Rice (1931-2004), refused to claim the remains, which were then buried on
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1108:"Dawn Powell, Novelist, Is Dead; Author of Witty, Satirical Books; Middle Class Was the Object of Her Stinging Fiction-13 Books Published",
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460:(1948), a portrait of the disintegration and eventual rekindling of a love affair against the background of the city and the onset of the
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982:"Who was Dawn Powell? - The Diaries of Dawn Powell -- 43 volumes dating from 1915 through 1965 -- are now for sale to the right bidder"
873:(stories). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Reprint, 1999 (with four additional stories). Ed. Tim Page. South Royalton, Vt.: Steerforth Press.
737:"Satire is people as they are; romanticism, people as they would like to be; realism, people as they seem with their insides left out."
406:, the first work that received both critical acclaim and reasonably good sales, marked a turn to social satire in a New York setting.
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451:. A musical adaptation of the novel, written by Tajlei Levis and John Mercurio, was staged in New York City in 2006.
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After the war, Powell's output slowed down, but it included some of her most acclaimed New York novels, including
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digs into the mysteries surrounding author Dawn Powell. All Things
Considered radio Hart Island-series episode.
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1964 — American
Academy of Arts and Letters' Marjorie Peabody Waite Award for lifetime achievement in literature
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When Powell died, virtually all of her novels were out of print. Her posthumous champions included
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Two late novels show Powell's interest in the New York art world of the 1950s:
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at the Rare Book and
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1275:; extensive information on Powell's life and works, along with commentary
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ed. Tim Page and
Michael Sexton. South Royalton, Vt.: Steerforth Press.
708: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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552: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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743:"A capacity for going overboard is a requisite for a full-grown mind."
296:. Most of her subsequent writing would deal either with life in small
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1158:"Dawn Powell's Writing Has Been Rediscovered. What About Her Grave?"
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Later in life, Powell did most of her writing in an apartment at 95
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In 1942, Powell published her first commercially successful novel,
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841:(novel). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Reprinted in 1956 as
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153:, famous for his work with many of her contemporaries, including
789:(novel). New York: Farrar & Rinehart. (Reprinted in 2001 by
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Fran
Lebowitz on the Best American Writer You've Never Heard Of
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She appears as a character in several scenes of Vidal's novel
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A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity
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screenwriter, a book reviewer, and a radio personality.
915:, ed. Tim Page. New York, NY: Henry Holt & Company.
479:) and a vanished or deceased painter named Marius; and
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American novelist, playwright, screenwriter (1896–1965)
1070:"In New York, Shows Can Be Slow or Fast in the Making"
908:, ed. Tim Page. South Royalton, Vt.: Steerforth Press.
901:, ed. Tim Page. South Royalton, Vt.: Steerforth Press.
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The Message of the City: Dawn Powell's New York Novels
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appeared in one of her plays. Her work was praised by
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394:(1928) as her first. Her favorite of her own novels,
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Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
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637:. More recently, she was referenced by novelist
390:was published in 1925, but she always described
185:, Powell's work received renewed interest after
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1125:"Paid Notice: Deaths RICE, JACQUELINE MILLER"
1091:Library of America essay by Gore Vidal (1987)
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199:has published two collections of her novels.
165:, became her editor. A 1963 nominee for the
1293:, Central Ohio’s Forgotten Literary Genius.
1273:The Library of America Presents Dawn Powell
1076:, August 26, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
866:(novel). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
859:(novel). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
852:(novel). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
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913:Selected Letters of Dawn Powell, 1913–1965
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1372:American women dramatists and playwrights
1291:The Triumphs and Tragedies of Dawn Powell
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1050:"Still Living in Dawn Powell's Village,"
834:(novel). New York: Farrar & Rinehart.
827:(novel). New York: Farrar & Rinehart.
820:(novel). New York: Farrar & Rinehart.
724:Learn how and when to remove this message
568:Learn how and when to remove this message
366:Learn how and when to remove this message
253:Learn how and when to remove this message
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813:(play). New York: Farrar & Rinehart
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419:(1933), co-written and co-directed by
906:The Diaries of Dawn Powell, 1931–1965
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643:The Narcissism of Small Differences.
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171:American Academy of Arts and Letters
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1189:Koningsberg, Eric (April 6, 2009).
662:New York State Writers Hall of Fame
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887:(novel). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
880:(novel). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
669:1963 — National Book Award nominee
464:. The novel ends with news of the
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599:Powell is referenced in the 2002
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757:(novel). Boston: Small, Maynard.
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1012:"Dawn Powell | American author"
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483:(1962), set in a fictionalized
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1362:People from Mount Gilead, Ohio
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771:(novel). New York: Brentano's.
764:(novel). New York: Brentano's.
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894:(novel). New York: Viking.
818:The Story of a Country Boy
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56:November 14, 1965 (age 68)
986:www.dawnpowelldiaries.com
871:Sunday, Monday and Always
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1285:'The Unmarked Graveyard'
1247:Dawn Powell: A Biography
864:The Locusts Have No King
457:The Locusts Have No King
93:The Locusts Have No King
1016:Encyclopedia Britannica
899:Dawn Powell At Her Best
502:Powell died in 1965 of
273:and the county seat of
1402:Burials on Hart Island
950:The Library of America
931:The Library of America
791:The Library of America
796:Come Back to Sorrento
780:Farrar & Rinehart
411:Walking Down Broadway
35:Dawn Powell, c. 1914.
1191:"The New York Times"
1057:, December 10, 2013.
845:. New York: Fawcett.
702:improve this article
546:improve this article
344:improve this article
231:improve this article
118:Joseph R. Gousha Jr.
1367:Novelists from Ohio
878:The Wicked Pavilion
857:My Home Is Far Away
778:(novel). New York:
762:She Walks in Beauty
629:Midnight in Europe.
594:Columbia University
473:The Wicked Pavilion
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392:She Walks in Beauty
279:My Home Is Far Away
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159:F. Scott Fitzgerald
89:The Wicked Pavilion
1347:American satirists
1279:Dawn Powell papers
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1129:The New York Times
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641:in his 2020 book,
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497:Christopher Street
421:Erich von Stroheim
267:Mount Gilead, Ohio
197:Library of America
195:. Since then, the
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47:Mount Gilead, Ohio
1072:, Jason Zinoman,
958:978-1-931082-02-0
939:978-1-931082-01-3
885:A Cage for Lovers
850:A Time to Be Born
825:Turn, Magic Wheel
811:Jig Saw: A Comedy
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625:Whitney Otto
618:
600:
598:
579:
564:
558:January 2021
555:
544:Please help
539:verification
536:
504:colon cancer
501:
494:
485:Cedar Tavern
480:
472:
470:
466:Bikini Atoll
455:
453:
438:
436:
425:
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395:
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377:
362:
356:January 2021
353:
342:Please help
337:verification
334:
306:
283:
278:
264:
249:
243:January 2021
240:
229:Please help
224:verification
221:
190:
163:Thomas Wolfe
140:
129:Stella Adler
124:
123:
92:
88:
84:
1337:1965 deaths
1332:1896 births
920:Four Plays,
776:Dance Night
508:Hart Island
397:Dance Night
181:, and poet
131:and author
125:Dawn Powell
23:Dawn Powell
1326:Categories
1196:2009-04-06
1175:2023-10-04
1142:2023-02-17
1021:2020-11-03
992:2020-11-03
965:References
586:Gore Vidal
449:Henry Luce
447:, wife of
428:Scribner's
386:Her novel
298:Midwestern
187:Gore Vidal
65:Occupation
1170:0362-4331
1137:0362-4331
804:Big Night
426:In 1939,
409:Her play
381:Hollywood
294:Manhattan
177:, critic
1218:Archived
1094:Archived
605:episode
590:Tim Page
462:Cold War
281:(1944).
271:Columbus
147:Scribner
115:Children
806:(play).
755:Whither
660:2015 —
615:Book TV
518:Revival
388:Whither
1316:Novels
1302:Portal
1255:
1224:Feb 4,
1168:
1135:
1041:vague.
956:
944:2001.
937:
925:2001.
918:1999.
911:1999.
904:1995.
897:1994.
890:1962.
883:1957.
876:1954.
869:1952.
862:1948.
855:1944.
848:1942.
837:1940.
830:1938.
823:1936.
816:1934.
809:1934.
802:1933.
785:1932.
774:1930.
767:1929.
760:1928.
753:1925.
674:Quotes
655:Awards
316:Novels
107:Spouse
68:Writer
73:Genre
1253:ISBN
1226:2021
1166:ISSN
1133:ISSN
1034:Her
954:ISBN
935:ISBN
161:and
53:Died
41:Born
793:as
704:by
623:by
613:on
548:by
346:by
308:to
288:in
284:At
233:by
139:in
1328::
1164:.
1160:.
1127:.
1081:^
1062:^
1014:.
1001:^
984:.
973:^
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933:.
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584:,
514:.
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379:a
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