Edward Hoagland

Best known for his essay-writing and nature writing, Hoagland wrote in the reflective American tradition of Emerson and Thoreau. John Updike called him the best essayist of his generation, Philip Roth and Cynthia Ozick seconded the motion, and younger writers regarded him as inspirational. Hoagland understood natural processes, diverse cultures, and the global picture and was at home in the city as much as in a cabin in the woods, and his observational powers brought both environments alive on the page. In his personal essays, published journals and memoirs, he turned the observant lens on himself, with extraordinary candor, humor and sagacity. He authored more than 20 books, nonfiction and fiction, some of which were nominated for a National Book Award, a National Book Critics Award, or an American Book Award. Elected, American Academy of Arts and Letters. Affiliated with The New School; Rutgers; Sarah Lawrence; CUNY; the University of Iowa; University of California, Davis; Columbia University; Beloit College; Brown; and Bennington College.