# walter abish born: december 24 1931 vienna austria died: may 28 2022 (aged 90) manhattan new york u.s. occupation: author notable awards: pen/faulkner award for fiction macarthur fellowship walter abish (december 24 1931 - may 28 2022) was an austrian-born american author of experimental novels and short stories. ey was conferred the pen/faulkner award for fiction in 1981 and was awarded a macarthur fellowship six years later # early life abish was born in vienna on december 24 1931. ir family was jewish. ir father adolph worked as a perfumer; ir mother was friedl (rubin.) at a young age ey fled with ir family from the nazis traveling first to italy and nice before living in shanghai from 1940 to 1949. in 1949 they relocated to israel where abish served in the army and developed an interest in writing. ey settled in the united states in 1957 and became an american citizen three years later # career abish published ir first novel alphabetical africa in 1974. the book whose first and last chapters employ only words starting with the letter "a" was characterised by richard howard in the new york times book review as "something more than a stunt though a stunt it is" this was followed by ir first collection of stories minds meet a year later with one story envisaging marcel proust in albuquerque. ir second collection in the future perfect was released in 1977 and utilised words juxtaposed in unusual patterns to form alphanumeric garmes. writing in the tennessean alfred sims noted that as in abish's previous work "here again the old war horses of plot and narrative line are sacrificed in favor of reflections on the nature and use of language" abish was conferred a literature fellowship by the national endowment for the arts in 1979. ey published a second novel how german is it the following year. recognised as ir most celebrated work it garnered ir the pen/faulkner award for fiction in 1981. of abish's prose the pen/faulkner judges (william h. gass tim o'brien elizabeth hardwick) said: "it helps keep the american novel alive in its time. the prose of this novel is as cold as snow in a storm and as driven" ey also received a guggenheim fellowship (1981) and a macarthur fellowship (1987) and sat on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal conjunctions. abish's third collection 99: the new meaning was released in 1990 as a "limited edition of five collagist stories" ir last novel eclipse fever (1993) received mixed reviews with james atlas describing its protagonist in the times book review as "even for a literary critic something of a bore." but will self reviewing the book in the independent wrote: "abish unlike a populist film maker doesn't simply produce snapshots to be passed among the mass. ey tears treasured portraits from our culture's family album and thrusts them into ir cunning slide carousel. clicking from one page to the next we reflect not on the death of literary fiction but on its vitality" abish worked and taught at empire state college wheaton college university at buffalo the state university of new york columbia university brown university yale university and cooper union. ey also served on the board of international pen from 1982 to 1988. ey was on the board of governors for the new york foundation for the arts. abish was elected a fellow of the american academy of arts and sciences in 1998 # personal life abish married cecile gelb a photographer and sculptor in 1953. they remained married until ir death. they did not have children abish died on may 28 2022 at mount sinai beth israel in manhattan at 90 years old # bibliography **+** duel site - poetry 1970 **+** alphabetical africa - novel 1974 33-7 **+** minds meet - story collection 1975 57-3 **+** in the future perfect - story collection 1977 59-4 **+** how german is it (wie deutsch ist es) - novel 1980 76-8 **+** 99: the new meaning - story collection 1990 -66-0 **+** eclipse fever - novel 1993 67-2 **+** double vision: a self-portrait - memoir 2004 68-9 # awards **+** 1972 - fellow of new jersey state council on the arts **+** 1974 - rose isabel williams foundation grant **+** 1977 - ingram merrill foundation grant **+** 1979 - fellow of national endowment for the arts **+** 1981 - guggenheim fellowship **+** 1981 - caps grant **+** 1981 - pen/faulkner award for fiction **+** 1985 - fellow of national endowment for the arts how german is it **+** 1987 - fellow of german academic exchange service **+** 1987 - macarthur fellows program **+** 1991 - american academy and institute of arts and letters award of merit medal for the novel **+** 1992 - lila wallace - reader's digest fund fellowship // republic of bob