McPherson, James Alan (1943-2016), became the first African American author to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. McPherson was awarded the prize in 1978 for his short story collection Elbow Room (1977). The collection followed his first book of fiction, the story collection Hue and Cry (1969).
McPherson’s stories explore themes of racial identity and social conflict. In the stories, realistic characters struggle in desperate situations, often trapped by poverty, racial prejudice, or lack of education. With sympathy, understanding, and sometimes with humor, the stories portray them as distinct individuals, whether they are Black or white.
McPherson discussed the events, people, and places that shaped his life, writing, and philosophy in the memoir Crabcakes (1998). A collection of his personal and cultural essays was published as A Region Not Home: Reflections from Exile (2000).
James Allen McPherson, Jr., was born on Sept. 16, 1943, in Savannah, Georgia. He later changed the spelling of his middle name to Alan so that he would not be mistaken for his father. McPherson received a B.A. degree from Morris Brown College in 1965, a law degree from Harvard University in 1968, and an M.F.A. degree from the University of Iowa in 1971. McPherson served as an instructor, and then as a faculty member, at several universities, including the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Virginia. He was professor of fiction at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop from 1981 until 2014. McPherson died on July 27, 2016.
