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GERALD HASLAM
Writer | 
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Latest
Publication
![The story of one man's response to his diagnosis with the disease [cancer] is significant. Add to it the context that Haslam builds around that, and you have a rich story of relationships lost and found, crises encountered, of death being faced with courage and awe. Review by: Nimble Spirit, The Literary Spirituality Review](gracesm.jpg)
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Josephine
Miles award
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Ralph J.
Gleason award
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Western States
Book award
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 Gerald W. Haslam was born in Bakersfield, raised in Oildale in California’s Great Central Valley, the setting of most of his books.
Much of his writing, starting with a series of pieces for The Nation two decades ago, has sought to bring his native state’s image more into line with its reality. He has particularly celebrated California’s rural and small town areas, its poor and working class people of all colors, to explore the human condition. He wrote in the Introduction to Where Coyotes Howl and Wind Blows Free, "no matter what our color or sex, we have more uniting than separating us. What is most important is that we are all members of the human family."
For personal biographical information about Gerald Haslam, Click Here!
For a bibliography of studies of Gerald Haslam's works, Click Here!
To arrange lectures, readings, book-signings, or if you would like more information, then feel free to contact:
Gerald Haslam, P.O.Box 969, Penngrove, CA, 94951, USA
email: ghaslam@sonic.net
LITERARY HONORS
2006 -- Josephine Miles National Literary Award for Haslam's Valley
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2005 -- Delbert and Edith Wylder Award (“for Exceptional Service”) Western Literature Association
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2004 -- Certificate of Commendation, California Arts Council
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2003 -- Sequoia -- Giant of the Valley Award, The Great Valley Center
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2001 -- Western States Book Award for Straight White Male
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2001 -- Silver Medal, ForeWord magazine fiction book of the year for Straight White Male
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2001 -- Carey McWilliams Award, California Studies Association
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2001 -- Certificate of Commendation, American Association for State and Local History for Workin' Man Blues
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2000 -- Ralph J. Gleason Award from Rolling Stone, BMI, NYU for Workin' Man Blues
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1999 -- Distinguished Achievement Award, Western Literature Association
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1999 -- Coming of Age in California selected as one of the 20th Century's top 100 non-fiction books from the West in a San Francisco Chronicle poll.
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1998 -- Bakersfield Centennial Literature Award
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1998 -- Laureate, San Francisco Library Foundation
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1994 -- Commonwealth Club Medal for Californiana for The Great Central Valley
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1994 -- Award of Merit from the Association of State and Local History for The Great Central Valley
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1994 -- Honorable Mention (finalist) PEN USA West Nonfiction Award for The Great Central Valley
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1993 -- Bay Area Book Reviewers’ Association Award for Nonfiction for The Great Central Valley
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1993 -- Benjamin Franklin Award from Publishers’ Marketing Association for Many Californias: Literature from the Golden State
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1993 -- Outstanding Literary Artist from Arts Council of Kern
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1990 -- Josephine Miles National Literary Award from PEN Oakland for That Constant Coyote
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1989 -- Creative Writing Fellowship from California Arts Council
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1988 -- Honorable Mention, Spur Best Short Fiction Award from Western Writers of America for "The Estero"
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1985 -- Bernard Ashton Raborg Award for "William Saroyan and the Critics"
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REVIEWERS’ COMMENTS
"The state has found a voice, sometimes sweet, often acerbic, laced with the rue only a smart native son can bring to bear..."
San Francisco Chronicle
"He has created a tradition from scratch..."
Los Angeles Times
"He writes with compassion, understanding and an ear for the many voices of the region.... He writes with tolerance about intolerance, with a sense of justice about injustice, and with humor that doesn’t stoop to condescension."
Westways
"[Haslam] is the quintessential California writer,"
The Californians
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"Haslam has modes of talk down with precise variations of rhythm, dialect and accent...he entertains, but punches hard too."
Small Press Review
"Gerald Haslam’s novel Masks is a work that extends Mark Twain’s and John Steinbeck’s line directly."
California English
"Haslam’s essays touch on universal themes, but he stays rooted to the specific, and has a deft touch."
The Bloomsbury Review
"Country music set to prose."
The Nation
"The writer's writer."
Long Beach Press
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