Kent Haruf

Kent Haruf was an American novelist and short story writer who wrote five novels and two collections of short stories. His writing focused on the small-town life in his native Colorado, and he is best known for his books Plainsong, Eventide, Benediction, and Our Souls at Night. Haruf died in 2014 at the age of 71.

Haruf was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado in a family of modest means. He attended the University of Northern Colorado, where he earned his undergraduate degree in creative writing. He then went on to earn his master’s in English from the University of Utah. After college, Haruf moved back to Colorado and became a newspaper reporter for the Delaware County News in Kansas, though he would soon leave the profession to focus on his writing.

His first novel, The Tie That Binds, was published in 1984. His second novel, Where You Once Belonged, was published in 1990 and received wide critical acclaim. His big breakthrough, however, came in 1999 with Plainsong, which won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award and nearly doubled his sales. This success was followed with his next novel, Eventide, in 2004.

Haruf’s writing was an ode to the disappearing rural life of the American West. All five of his novels are set in Holt, a fictional Colorado farming town. The people of Holt are the souls of Haruf’s writing, driven by the simple task of living life in the face of rural depression and the ever-encroaching influence of the modern world. His books are characterized by their sparse language and deliberate pacing which allows the reader to submerse themselves in the atmosphere and internal lives of his characters.

Haruf’s writing is deeply compassionate and often depicts the tightly woven connections that exist in small-town communities. In a 2012 interview, Haruf noted that he “tried to pay attention to what people [in small towns] were saying and to the real details of their lives … to the people who inhabit his novel, Holt and its environs, are “underdogs” who are “overlooked and forgotten”.

Haruf’s final novel, Benediction, was awarded the 2014 Wallace Stegner Award by Stanford University. His final book, Our Souls at Night, was written shortly before his death in 2014. He is remembered by his readers as an author who brought a unique insight and dedication to understanding the lives of those in small-town America. His works have been turned into film, radio plays, and television shows. His writing continues to be read and celebrated by readers around the world.