Background

Larry Watson was born in 1949 in Rugby, North Dakota, United States. He is the son of a sheriff.

Education

Larry Watson spent his childhood in Bismarck, North Dakota where he attended its local public schools.

After graduating from Bismarck State College, Watson entered the University of North Dakota where he earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. Then, he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in creative writing from the University of Utah.

Later, Larry Watson was granted an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Ripon College.

Career

The start of Larry Watson's career of a writer can be counted from 1993 when his first book, 'Montana 1948', saw publication. The novel was set in Bentrock, Montana, a fictional town only a dozen miles from both the Canadian and North Dakotan borders. During the four subsequent years, the book was followed by two more volumes, ‘Justice’, which detailed the history of the Haydens and Bentrock leading to the events of Montana 1948, and ‘White Crosses’, that concerned the efforts of Jack Nevelsen, sheriff of Bentrock, to prevent a scandal from erupting in the small town in the wake of two deaths.

Larry Watson has also contributed his short stories and poems in a variety of periodicals, including Gettysburg Review, New England Review, North American Review, and Mississippi Review. His essays and book reviews have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and others.

Watson has tried his hand in academics as well. The author has taught writing and literature at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point till 2003 when he occupied the post of a visiting professor at Marquette University. He retired in fifteen years.

One of the recent books by Larry Watson include ‘Let Him Go’ and ‘As Good as Gone’.

Achievements

• Larry Watson is an accomplished writer whose talent is recognized both by critics and fiction amateurs.
  
  Watson’s writings have been featured in ten foreign editions. The author has obtained awards and honored mentions from Milkweed Press, Friends of American Writers, Mountain and Plains Booksellers Association, Mountain and Plains Library Association, New York Public Library, Wisconsin Library Association, Critics’ Choice, and was a recipient of the High Plains Book Award.
  
  Watson’s ‘White Crosses’ and ‘Orchard’ were adapted into the movies as well as ‘Let Him Go’ starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane in 2019.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Laura

    (Following the inner life of one man over the course of ne...)

    2000
  • Montana 1948

    ("From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of i...)

    1993
  • White Crosses

    (When the married principal of the local elementary school...)

    1997
  • Justice

    (In a prequel to the national best-seller Montana 1948, th...)

    1995
  • Let Him Go

    (A retired sheriff and his wife go after their young grand...)

    2013
  • Sundown, Yellow Moon

    (Spare, haunting, lyrical, the book is a piercing study of...)

    2007
  • Orchard

    (The explosive story of an artist, his muse, and the stagg...)

    2004
  • In a dark time

    (Larry Watson Watson explores the themes that established ...)

    1998
  • As Good as Gone

    (Calvin Sidey is always ready to run, and it doesn’t take ...)

    2016
  • American Boy 2011

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• The essential topics of Larry Watson’s writings are strong emotional dissension and obsession according to aa book reviewer Ronald Kovach.

Connections

Larry Watson married his schoolmate beloved Susan Gibbons in 1967. The family produced two children, Elly and Amy.

Wife:

Susan Gibbons

Daughter:

Elly Watson

Daughter:

Amy Watson

References

• Larry Watson's Official Website