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University of California Press |
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University of Nebraska Press |
 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 four 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."
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Benjamin Franklin Award from Publishers' Marketing Association |
Josephine Miles Award |
Ralph J. Gleason Award |
Western States Book award |
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E-books now available: Grace Period, Snapshots, Coming of Age in California, In Thought and Action, Voices of a Place, The Great Tejon Club Jubilee | ||||
"He has created a tradition from scratch..."
"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."
"[Haslam] is the quintessential California writer,"
"Gerald Haslam's novel Masks is a work that extends Mark Twain's and John Steinbeck's line directly."
"Haslam's essays touch on universal themes, but he stays rooted to the specific, and has a deft touch."
"Country music set to prose."
"The writer's writer."
Gerald Haslam, P.O.Box 969, Penngrove, CA, 94951, USA
email: ghaslam@sonic.net
2006 -- Josephine Miles National Literary Award for Haslam's Valley
2005 -- Delbert and Edith Wylder Award (for Exceptional Service) Western Literature Association
2004 -- Certificate of Commendation, California Arts Council
2003 -- Sequoia -- Giant of the Valley Award, The Great Valley Center
2001 -- Western States Book Award for Straight White Male
2001 -- Silver Medal, ForeWord magazine fiction book of the year for Straight White Male
2001 -- Carey McWilliams Award, California Studies Association
2001 -- Certificate of Commendation, American Association for State and Local History for Workin' Man Blues
2000 -- Ralph J. Gleason Award from Rolling Stone, BMI, NYU for Workin' Man Blues
1999 -- Distinguished Achievement Award, Western Literature Association
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.
1998 -- Bakersfield Centennial Literature Award
1998 -- Laureate, San Francisco Library Foundation
1994 -- Commonwealth Club Medal for Californiana for The Great Central Valley
1994 -- Award of Merit from the Association of State and Local History for The Great Central Valley
1994 -- Honorable Mention (finalist) PEN USA West Nonfiction Award for The Great Central Valley
1993 -- Bay Area Book Reviewers' Association Award for Nonfiction for The Great Central Valley
1993 -- Benjamin Franklin Award from Publishers' Marketing Association for Many Californias: Literature from the Golden State
1993 -- Outstanding Literary Artist from Arts Council of Kern
1990 -- Josephine Miles National Literary Award from PEN Oakland for That Constant Coyote
1989 -- Creative Writing Fellowship from California Arts Council
1988 -- Honorable Mention, Spur Best Short Fiction Award from Western Writers of America for "The Estero"
1985 -- Bernard Ashton Raborg Award for "William Saroyan and the Critics"
"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
Los Angeles Times
Westways
The Californians
"Haslam has modes of talk down with precise variations of rhythm, dialect and accent...he entertains, but punches hard too."
Small Press Review
California English
The Bloomsbury Review
The Nation
Long Beach Press
Books In Print - Films
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