John Winslow Irving

First achieved critical and popular acclaim with the international success of The World According to Garp (1978), which won the 1980 National Book Award. In addition to Garp, his novels, The Cider House Rules (1999) and A Prayer for Owen Meany (2002), were bestsellers. Many of his works are set in or around Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire where the writer grew up. Five of his novels were adapted to film. He wrote the screen adaptation of The Cider House Rules, for which he received an Oscar. Sometimes compared to Dickens in his use of intricate plotting, eccentric characters, and humor. Novels typically deal with characters in the recent past who are trying to find their way in life, often in a New England setting. Taught writing at the University of Iowa, Mount Holyoke College, Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and Brandeis University.