Frank Conroy

Frank Conroy ( born January 15, 1936 in New York; † April 6, 2005 in Iowa City ) was an American writer.

He became famous in 1967 with his first book, Stop -Time. These memoirs of his restless childhood in poverty have been a best-seller and made ​​it to the shortlist of the National Book Award. To date, Stop -Time is one of the most important autobiographies of American literature.

It was not until 18 years later Conroy appeared second book, the short story collection Midair (1985 ), in which he also processed mainly autobiographical material, 1993, his only novel Body and Soul. He also wrote a number of essays. In prestigious magazines like the New Yorker and Harper's A selection of his essays was published in 2002 under the title Dogs Bark, but the Caravan Rolls On in book form, 2004, his last book, Time and Tide, a long essay on the island of Nantucket.

If these later books also failed to match the success of Stop -Time, as practiced Conroy as promoters and teachers some influence on the younger American literature. 1982 to 1987 he headed the literary program of the National Endowment for the Arts, 1987 to 2005 then the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, which became a highly regarded talent pool for young writers under his leadership; studied under him, among other ZZ Packer, Nathan Englander and Abraham Verghese.