Legendary American novelist James Jones was Professor of Creative Writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop from 1956 to 1961. In 1962, he was appointed as a Corresponding Member of the Institute of International Education. In addition, he served as the Chairman of Special Collections at the University of Iowa from 1960 to 1962. From 1971 to 1975, he was Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southern California.
Creative Writing Is Popular
In the midst of the Second World War, the need for trained writers became apparent. To address this need, creative writing courses at American universities were developed as a way of encouraging promising young men and women to pursue a career in literature. One of the first creative writing professors in the United States was Elbert Hubbard at Stanford University. In 1921, he established the English Department at the university and became its first chair. In the department’s first year, it had 12 students. By 1924, the number of students had grown to 92. In 1927, he founded the writing program at the university and served as its director until 1933.
The University of Iowa was also among the first in the United States to offer a creative writing course. Established in 1919 as Iowa City’s Evening Division of the University of Iowa, the program initially consisted of only two students. In 1922, it was renamed the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and graduated its first class in 1924. In 1927, the Workshop became an independent entity and was granted full professorship status in 1929. It continued to expand throughout the 1920s, growing to a size that eventually matched its California neighbor. In 1935, the Workshop’s Workshop Hall was named after Stephen Crane. It is the oldest continuously operating writer’s workshop in North America. Today, the program has more than 75 full-time faculty and staff, along with more than 300 students. The program offers a Bachelors of Arts in Writing as a joint degree with the University of Iowa.
Jones’ Most Influential Novels
James Jones was the author of many famous novels, among them, The Thin Red Line, which was made into a movie of the same name. It won the 1962 National Book Award for Fiction. At the time of its publication in 1962, it was the bestselling novel of all time. Jones’ other notable works include Lobo, the story of a Mexican Revolutionary who becomes a revolutionary in his own right during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. This was made into a movie with Charles Bronson in the title role. The movie was released in 1964 and was nominated for an Oscar. The first two books in the series – Lobo and The Jones Boat – were made into movies as well. In the course of his writing career, Jones sold more than 30 million copies of his books worldwide. In 2019, his lifetime earnings were reported to be US$150 million.
A Professor To Be Trusted
The University of Iowa was not the only academic institution to have a major impact on James Jones. In fact, he taught as a visiting professor at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, as well as the City University of Hong Kong and the University of Tokyo. At the University of Warwick, he instructed English Literature students in the methods of novel-writing. In addition, he served as an advisor to the Hong Kong Literary Agency and the Singapore Literature Centre.
An Active Literary Life
James Jones was a very active literary figure who reviewed books for numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Daily Mail. He also wrote introductions for many of the books he reviewed. In later life, he became a professor of Creative Writing Emeritus at the University of Southern California. In addition, he was a long-time member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Royal Society of Literature. He died in May 2019 at the age of 101.