Kay Boyle (1902–1992), author, teacher, and political crusader, published forty-five volumes of fiction, poetry, and essays. Her clean, distinct style was sometimes compared to Hemingway’s, though it was her keen eye for the interior lives of characters in desperate situations that made her voice singular. She was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, and, nearing seventy and teaching at San Francisco State, was imprisoned for demonstrating against the war in Vietnam. Speaking of life in Paris between the world wars, she provided her own fitting epitaph: “I think the truth should be told.”
WORKS THAT HAVE APPEARED IN NARRATIVE:
- Rest Cure, a short story, in Fall 2015
- The Teaching of Writing, an essay, in Stories of the Week: 2014–2015