Novelist Kent Haruf Dies at 71

One of my favorite novelists, Kent Haruf, died on Sunday at the age of 71. I first discovered Haruf's lyrical writing when his wonderful 1999 work Plainsong was under consideration as the inaugural All Iowa Reads selection n 2003, Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, another excellent work, was selected as the first book for All Iowa Reads and with it setting in rural Minnesota it trumped Haruf's Colorado high plains locale.  Plainsong was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1999.

Haruf was able to capture small town and rural life in his books.  His latest, Benediction, was published in 2013, and with Eventide completes the trilogy set in Holt, a fictional town on the high plains of Colorado.  If you haven't read his novels and enjoy a strong sense of place, you will not be disappointed.

Morning Edition aired a tribute to Kent Haruf today. It included clips from an interview with Diane Rehm where he talked about moving to Iowa City in the winter of 1971 with hopes that he would be admitted into the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the fall.  He received an MFA from the workshop in 1973.

And for those of you who have read and enjoyed his writing, Kent Haruf’s final novel, Our Souls At Night, is in the editing phase and is currently scheduled for a 2015 release.