You are here

His Life

Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines (b. 1933) is a world renowned novelist, short story writer, and teacher. Ernest J. Gaines is among the most widely read and highly respected contemporary authors of African American fiction. He was born in Pointe Coupee Parish in Louisiana and at age fifteen, Gaines moved to California, joining his mother and stepfather there, because his Louisiana parish had no high school for African Americans.

After graduating high school and serving in the Army, Gaines enrolled in San Francisco State University where he began publishing in the university’s quarterly literary journal. These stories secured him a place in Stanford University’s graduate program for creative writing. After leaving Stanford, he settled in the San Francisco area.

In 1981, he accepted the position of Writer-in-Residence here at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette ( Formerly University of Southwestern Louisiana). Not long into his tenure, he published A Gathering of Old Men (1983) which was also adapted for television. 1993 saw the publication of A Lesson Before Dying, which was adapted for television in 1999 and is one of his most critically acclaimed novels.

Before retiring in 2004, Dr. Gaines won numerous awards including the Louisiana Humanist of the Year and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1993. In 2000, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal and was made a Chevalier (Knight) of the French Order of Arts and Letters.

His other awards include:

  • Louisiana State University honorary degree (1987)
  • Xavier University honorary degree (2005)
  • University of Louisiana-Lafayette honorary degree (2008)
  • Tulane University honorary degree (1995)
  • Loyola University honorary degree (1995)
  • Centenary College honorary degree (2000)
  • James William Rivers Prize in Louisiana Studies (1998)
  • Honorary Citizen of Lafayette certificate (1982 Lafayette, LA)
  • National Governors Association award plaque (2000)
  • Oliver-Sigur Humanitarian Service Award (2004 Louisiana Council on Human Relations)
  • Southern University Department of English plaque (1982)
  • Citizens Action Council plaque (1993)
  • Universitas Colatensis honorary degree (2000)
  • Elmira College honarary degree (2000)
  • University of North Carolina-Ashville honorary degree (2007)
  • Emory University honorary degree (2008)
  • Universitas Brunensis honorary degree (1985)
  • Whittier College honorary degree (1986)
  • University of Miami honorary degree (1999)
  • Savannah College of Arts and Design honorary degree (1994)
  • Lewis and Clark College honorary degree (2001)
  • St. Thomas University honorary degree (2001)
  • Distinguished Centennial Alumnus award (1999) San Francisco State University
  • Arts Commission of the City and County of San Francisco award (1983)
  • Golden Plate Award (2001 American Academy of Achievement)
  • Fellowship of Southern Writers medal (1989)
  • John Do Passos Prize for Literature announcement poster (1994 Longwood College)