Eleanor Clark
Eleanor Clark was an influential American writer born in 1913 in Roxbury, Connecticut. She received her education from various boarding schools and a convent in France before graduating from Vassar College in 1934, where she studied alongside notable poet Elizabeth Bishop. Clark began her career in publishing with W. W. Norton and contributed to esteemed literary magazines before serving in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Her debut novel, *The Bitter Box*, published in 1946, reflects her political interests and personal experiences from the 1930s, earning her a place among prominent contemporary writers.
Throughout her career, Clark explored themes of tradition, change, and human values in both fiction and nonfiction, with notable works including *Rome and a Villa* and *The Oysters of Locmariaquer*, the latter receiving the National Book Award for Arts and Letters in 1965. She balanced her writing pursuits with family life after marrying poet Robert Penn Warren in 1952. Although her later novels, such as *Gloria Mundi* and *Camping Out*, delve into darker themes, Clark's literary contributions have not yet achieved the recognition they deserve, despite her critical acclaim and several awards. Eleanor Clark passed away in 1996, leaving behind a rich but underappreciated legacy in American literature.
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Subject Terms
Eleanor Clark
Writer
- Born: July 6, 1913
- Birthplace: Roxbury, Connecticut
- Died: February 16, 1996
- Place of death: Boston, Massachusetts
Biography
Eleanor Clark was a native New Englander, born in 1913, in Roxbury, Connecticut, where she received her earliest education. She then went to a series of boarding schools, where her mother was working, and then on to a convent in France. Back in the U.S., she went to Rosemary Hall and on to Vassar College, where she graduated in 1934. One of her classmates was the poet Elizabeth Bishop.
After graduation, she worked on the editorial staff of W. W. Norton in New York, and she also worked as a freelance writer and translator. After 1937 her short stories and book reviews and essays appeared in a number of prestigious literary magazines. During World War II she moved to Washington, D. C. to work in the Office of Strategic Services.
Her first novel, The Bitter Box, was published in 1946. It was largely based on her experiences in the 1930’s and on her political interest in left-wing politics. Its bureaucratic protagonist finally becomes disillusioned with “The Party” and learns more humane values. The novel was well received, and Clark was grouped with other emerging writers such as Jean Stafford and Eudora Welty. She received Guggenheim Fellowships in 1947 and 1949, though her writing interests were leaning toward nonfiction.
In 1952 she married the poet Robert Penn Warren, with whom she had two children. From then on her own career had to be balanced by her family responsibilities and the career of her husband. Travel to Europe became frequent and resulted in Rome and a Villa, a personal response to that city. The book was revised in 1975, and received equally warm praise then. Another travel book, The Oysters of Locmariaquer, appeared in 1964 and received the National Book Award for Arts and Letters for 1965. It is set in Brittany, France, and is both a response and a meditation on the lives of the oyster gatherers of the Breton shoreline.
Clark’s second novel did not appear till 1970. Baldur’s Gate is set in a Connecticut village. It deals with the fear of letting tradition go and the fear of the future. Both the two protagonists and the village finally learn to put the past behind them and move on. This was followed in 1974 by Dr. Heart: A Novella, and Other Stories, which represented her best short stories.
Clark then wrote a memoir, Eyes, Etc.: A Memoir, in which she details the progress of her own macular degeneration and her coming to terms with her loss of vision. This was followed in 1979 by her next novel, Gloria Mundi, which was set in a Vermont township. It is bleaker than her second novel, and, like its predecessor, it deals with violence, drugs and vandalism. Less hope is offered at the end of this novel than in its predecessor. This is even more true of her final novel, Camping Out (1986), which is set on a lakeside in Vermont. Attempted rape and murder strip away various appearances of the two lesbian protagonists. Clark died in 1996, and despite various awards, early critical acclaim, and journalistic exposure, she has not yet received the reputation appropriate to the quality of her writing.