Edward P. Jones

Edward P. Jones ( born 1951 in Washington, DC) is an American writer.

Life

Jones was born in 1951, the son of African- American parents (one originating from North Carolina and a restaurant employee washing dishes ). He grew up in a poor family and was partly raised by his mother alone. Early on, he preferred reading other pursuits. He attended the "Holy Cross College " in Worcester, Massachusetts. There he attended including courses in Creative Writing and received his degree in English. At the invitation of the American novelist John Casey, he joined the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and attended classes there for Creative Writing, which he successfully completed with the title " Master of Fine Arts" ( MFA).

The next 19 years he earned his living by texts written about economic issues and proofreading. This work, however, he lost while he was working on his novel The Known World. In 1992 he published his first book, the short story collection Lost in the City, dt In the labyrinth of the city, with which he was nominated for the National Book Award, and came as a finalist shortlisted selection. In 1993 he received the PEN Hemingway Foundation Award. In 2004 he was MacArthur Fellow.

For the novel The Known World, dt The known world, where he had worked for over 10 years, he succeeded once again. In addition, he won the 2004 with this novel won the Pulitzer Prize, was for the Anisfield - Wolf Book Award and the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Jones currently lives in Arlington, near Washington, DC.

Works

• The known world. Roman ( " The Known World"). Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-455-03696-1 and Dtv, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-423-13536-8 (translated by Hans-Christian Oeser ).
• Hagar's children. Stories ("All aunt Hagar 's children" ). Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-455-03697-8 (translated by Hans-Christian Oeser ) ..
• In the city maze. Narratives ( "Lost in the City" ). Dtv, Munich 2008. ISBN 978-3-423-136846 ( translated by Susanne and Hans- Christian Oeser Höbel ).

The known world

The book is set in the slave society of the period before the Civil War in Virginia. The focus of the book is generally little known fact that there were black slave owners at that time. The book uses the example of the people involved, the impact of slavery on the personality of the people of that time. It is partially understood as an alternative to the book Roots by Alex Haley.

The book's title alludes to, that the slaves were denied any education: they were not allowed to read and write, learn to not being able to even exhibit passes. They were allowed to acquire any knowledge in geography, as these could be useful to them in a possible escape. The known world of the slaves was therefore the plantation on which they worked.