With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Paul Horgan
Education/Curation, Fiction
1903 – 1995
Horgan had a long academic relationship with Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He served variously as a Fellow and Director, Center for Advanced Studies (now the Center for Humanities) from its founding in 1959, as adjunct professor of English, and was permanent author-in-residence in his later years.
- Biography/Description of Work
His experience living in New Mexico provided the fodder for works both fictional and historical that explored the peoples, cultures, and clashes of the Southwest. His work garnered two Pulitzer Prizes, in 1955 for the two-volume epic, “Great River: The Rio Grande in American History,” and in 1975 for a biography of the anti-slavery, pro-Indian Archbishop Juan Bautista Lamy entitled “Lamy of Santa Fe.” It was well researched and richly detailed, but traditional and lacking the experimental expression of contemporary Modernist writers.
- Sources view
- New York Times obituary. 1995. [ http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/09/obituaries/paul-horgan-91-historian-and-novelist-of-the-southwest.html ]
- Associated Resource(s)