Ernest J. Gaines
Born 15 January 1933
Ernest J. Gaines was born on a plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, the oldest of 12 children. His parents moved to Vallejo, California during World War II, so he was raised by his aunt, who was crippled and limited to crawling to get around. His was the fifth generation of share croppers to live on the plantation, and his family lived in a house that had formerly been slave quarters. During the summers, he picked cotton, and during the winters he was educated at the the plantation church. He spent three years at St. Augustine School, a Catholic school for African Americans in New Roads, but his education ended at the eighth grade because there was no further education offered to African-American children at that time. So, he joined his mother and stepfather in Vallejo, California. He wrote his first novel, Catherine Carmier, at age 17, and a rewritten version of it was published in 1964. In the meantime, his first short story, "The Turtles", was published in a college magazine at San Francisco State University in 1956. In 1957 he received a degree in literature from SFSU. After spending two years in the Army, he won a writing fellowship to Stanford University.
Since 1984, Gaines has spent the first half of every year in San Francisco and the second half in Lafayette, where he teaches a creative writing workshop every autumn at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. When in Louisiana, he and his wife live in a home built on the plantation where he grew up.
Quotes
“In dialogue, I’m dealing with the sounds I’ve heard. One of the reasons I often write from first person or multiple points of view is to hear the voices of different characters.”
On how he handled dialogue in his works in “An Interview with Ernest J. Gaines” “When I read aloud, people always come up to me and say, “I understand it much better now that I’ve heard you read it. I can hear the characters’ voices much clearer…””
On how his reading aloud helped frame the character’s voice in “An Interview wit “All writers write about the past, and I try to make it come alive so you can see what happened.”
In an interview with Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, February 18, 2011 “But there was subtle racism every day of my life. You could not speak to a white man unless he spoke to you first. On the sidewalk, I’d have to move so a white person could walk by.”
On his experiences with segregation as quoted in “Ernest J. Gaines: A Great Ame
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0), chosen with AI.
Books by Ernest J. Gaines in order
Books by Ernest J. Gaines in the order they were published, from Bloodline (1963) to The Tragedy of Brady Sims (2017).
- 1Bloodline
Bloodline1963 - 2Catherine Carmier
Catherine Carmier1964 - 3Of Love and Dust
Of Love and Dust1967 - 4A Long Day in NovemberA Long Day in November1971
- 5The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman1971 - 6A Gathering of Old Men
A Gathering of Old Men1983 - 7Miss Jane Pittman
Miss Jane Pittman1984 - 8Ernest GainesErnest Gaines1987
- 9Ernest Gaines, InterviewErnest Gaines, Interview1987
- 10Porch Talk with Ernest Gaines
Porch Talk with Ernest Gaines1990 - 11A Lesson Before Dying
A Lesson Before Dying1993 - 12Conversations with Ernest Gaines
Conversations with Ernest Gaines1995 - 13The Sky Is GrayThe Sky Is Gray1995
- 14Vintage Ernest Gaines AssortmentVintage Ernest Gaines Assortment1998
- 15The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Related Readings
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Related Readings2000 - 16Mozart and Leadbelly
Mozart and Leadbelly2005 - 17The Tragedy of Brady Sims
The Tragedy of Brady Sims2017 - 18In My Father's House
In My Father's House