John Irving is one of the most popular and respected writers in the world. His 10 novels — famous for their complex yet accessible plots and brilliantly portrayed characters — have become American classics; each one is a publishing event.

Irving’s first international bestseller, The World According to Garp, introduced a world of readers to his inventive and expansive style, memorable characters and masterfully woven stories-within-stories. “I hold a novel accountable for a good story,” he says, “...one that’s a little too complicated and circumlocutious to be easily encapsulated in a newspaper or television story.”

Garp won a National Book Award in 1980. The film adaptation of the book starred Robin Williams and earned Academy Award nominations for John Lithgow and Glenn Close.
 
Since the release of Garp, all of Irving’s novels have been international bestsellers. His books (including A Son of the Circus, A Prayer for Owen Meany, A Widow for One Year and The Fourth Hand) have been translated into over 30 languages and have sold tens of millions of copies.

It took more than 14 years to see his novel, The Cider House Rules, turned into a movie. When it was released in 1999, Cider House garnered wide critical acclaim and received seven Oscar nominations. Irving won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie was also a great success at the box office, introducing Irving to a new generation of fans.
 

John was wonderful...The audience did not want to let it end. We had 2,000 in attendance.

Friends of the Central Library

In 2004 Focus Features released The Door in the Floor, a movie based on the first portion of A Widow for One Year, starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger.

Irving received an MFA from the University of Iowa, where he studied with Kurt Vonnegut. A former college English teacher, he was a competitive wrestler for 20 years, coached wrestling until he was 47, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992.

As a child, Irving, who is dyslexic, learned to carefully read and repeat every word in order to keep up in school. At first practical, this scrutiny of language became a powerful literary tool.

His readings and onstage Q & A sessions offer audiences an intimate look at his artful use of language to convey the funny, tragic, romantic, violent, mundane and unexpected aspects of life as we live it.

Irving is a recipient of the O. Henry Award and awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the NEA and the Guggenheim Foundation. In 2001 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His eleventh novel, Until I Find You, was published by Random House in 2005.

All proceeds from a presentation by John Irving will benefit the Maple Street School in Vermont.