Stark Young(October 11, 1881 – January 6, 1963) was an American teacher, playwright, novelist, painter, literary critic, translator, and essayist.
Stark Young | |
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| Born | October 11, 1881 Como, Mississippi,United States |
| Died | January 6, 1963(aged 81) |
Early life
editYoung was born on October 11, 1881, inComo, Mississippi.His father, Alfred Alexander Young, was a physician. His mother, Mary Clark Starks, was a direct descendant of the McGehees, an old planter family; she died when he was nine years old.[1]Shortly after her death, Young was sent to live at theMcGehee PlantationinSenatobia, Mississippi.[1]
Young entered theUniversity of Mississippiat the age of 15 and graduated from that institution in 1901. He completed his Master's Degree atColumbia Universityin New York in 1902.
Career
editYoung taught at the University of Mississippi in 1905-1907, and then moved to theUniversity of Texas at Austin.There he established theTexas Reviewand became involved with theater. In 1915 he moved toAmherst Collegein Massachusetts, where he taught English until 1921.
He resigned to pursue other interests and moved to New York City. In New York, he was appointed as an editor ofTheatre Arts Magazineand as drama critic forThe New Republic.Young worked atThe New Republicuntil his retirement in 1947. During this period he was also professionally involved with the theater in New York and wrote several plays. Young's plays include:Guenevere,Addio, Madretta,At The Shrine,The Star In The Trees,Twilight Saint,The Dead Poet,The Seven Kings and the Wind,andThe Queen of Sheba,to name a few.
In 1926 Stark Young wrote his first novelHeaven Trees.In 1930, Young contributed to the agrarian manifesto,I'll Take My Stand.He was one of 12 Southern writers, a group includingAllen Tate,known as theSouthern Agrarians.Young drew on the traditions of his Southern upbringing for inspiration. He wrote essays, journalistic articles, and collections of stories that drew on these sources. He also published four novels dealing with Southern themes.
So Red the Rose(1934), perhaps Young's finest novel, had a brief period of popularity as the archetype of theSouthernCivil War novel and dealt with the aftermath of the war. In 1935, his novel was adapted as afilm of the same namedirected byKing Vidorand starringMargaret Sullavan.Described by its author as a novel of the affections, the book is still in print. The phenomenal successes ofMargaret Mitchell'sGone With the Wind(1936) and itsfilm adaptation of 1939pushed Young's book into the background.
Young translated a number of plays byAnton Chekhov,includingThe Sea Gull,Uncle Vanya,The Three Sisters,andThe Cherry Orchard,all of which were published in 1956 by The Modern Library asBest Plays by Chekhov.
In the 1940s Young, a self-taught artist, began painting. He had two one-man exhibitions in New York. His paintings were shown in four important venues, including theArt Institute of Chicago,which purchased one of his works for its permanent collection.
In 1951 Young published his memoir,The Pavilion,dedicated to his friendAllen Tate.
Young was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame,[2]as well as the New York University Hall of Fame. He was the recipient of Creative Arts Medallion fromBrandeis Universityand the Southeastern Theatre Conference's Distinguished Career Award. Additionally, he received theOrder of the Crown of Italyfor a series of lectures onAmerican theater.He gave them in Italian as a Westinghouse Lecturer in Italy. He served on the board ofNew York Universityand was a theater critic for theNew York Times.
Death
editYoung suffered a stroke in May 1959 and died four years later. He was buried in Friendship Cemetery in Como, Mississippi.