Gerald Haslam

Fiction Writer

Penngrove, CA
California US

Author's Bio

I have taken little known areas of California as my literary province, setting my stories and essays in farms and villages and empty stretches of that otherwise glitzy state. I write especially about my home region, the Great Central Valley...the richest agricultural region in the history of the world.
It is an area of few haves and many have nots, bloated wealth for a few, desperation for many, and increasingly of a disconnected middle class. Many people of all colors struggle to gain a foothold in California on its unforgiving fields, toiling to survive while varied cultures clash or blend, and that in turn can lead to deep, grinding drama. Add an improved (or maimed)landscape, water wars, a blighted natural environment, and there's plenty to write about.
I call my settings "The Other California."

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Manuel & the Madman (Devil Mountain Books, 2000)
,
Straight White Male (University of Nevada Press, 2000)
,
The Great Tejon Club Jubilee (Devil Mountain Books, 1996)
,
Condor Dreams & Other Fictions (University of Nevada Press, 1994)
Journals:
L.A. Times Magazine
,
Sierra
,
Sky Books
,
The Nation
,
This World
Prizes won: 

Bernard Ashton Raborg Award, 1985 Josephine Miles Award, 1990
Bay Area Book Reviewers Award, 1993
Benjamin Franklin Award, 1993
Commonwealth Club Medal, 1994
Western States Book Award, 2000
Ralph J. Gleason Award, 2000
Carey McWilliams Award, 2001
Josephine Miles Award, 2006

Personal Favorites

What I'm reading now: 
The Men in My Life by James D. Houston, Controversy by William Manchester, Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell, Growing Up Bronx by Gerald Rosen, The Firebird Poems by Gerald Locklin

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Born in: 
Bakersfield
Raised in: 
Oildale, CA
California
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: May 11, 2009