Author William Saroyan
William Saroyan (1908-1981) was a Pulitzer-prize winning playwright, novelist, and short story writer. The San Joaquin Valley native is considered one of the giants of 20th century American literature.
Born in Fresno to Armenian immigrants, he suffered many hardships and difficulties on the road to literary success. Saroyan lived in an orphanage with his sisters and brother after his father died when Saroyan was three. Five years later, his mother regained custody and Saroyan worked as a newsboy and telegraph messenger. He dropped out of Fresno Technical High School and worked in the agricultural fields near Fresno, and then at a series of low paying jobs. Despite his hardscrabble life, his determination to write led him to literary success.
He had some early success as a writer, publishing a poem and stories in the magazines of the time. In 1934, the first collection of his short stories, entitled The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, was published to wide acclaim. Three more collections ( Inhale and Exhale, Three Times Three, and Little Children) followed. Meanwhile, Saroyan began working as a screenwriter in Hollywood.
His first produced play, The Time of Your Life, won the 1939 New York Film Critic’s Award and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Saroyan refused the Pulitzer.
Saroyan was a highly productive writer. Over the course of his lifetime, Saroyan wrote more than 50 plays and books.
