Russell Banks Biography

Writer

Russell Banks is a New England writer famous for his novels Affliction (1990) and The Sweet Hereafter (1992), both of which were made into critically-acclaimed movies. In the 1980s Banks began publishing short stories, most of which have been included in his collections Trailerpark (1981), Success Stories (1986) and The Angel on the Roof (2000). Banks's stories are often drawn from his own experiences growing up poor in New England, or from time he spent in Jamaica, and explore moral themes and personal relationships. His other novels include The Book of Jamaica (1980), Continental Drift (1985), Rule of the Bone (1996), a historical novel about abolitionist John Brown, Cloudsplitter (1998), and 2004's The Darling, a contemporary novel that takes place during Charles Taylor's rise to power in Liberia.