World News
Wendell Berry, Kentucky-born author and advocate for rural life, dies at 92
The prolific writer and agrarian celebrated rural communities and criticized modern industrial society across more than 40 books.
The short version
- Author, poet, and agrarian Wendell Berry died on Monday at his home in Port Royal, Kentucky, at the age of 92.
- Berry wrote more than 40 books of fiction, poetry, and essays focusing on the preservation of rural farming communities and criticizing industrial agriculture.
- His major honors included a National Humanities Medal, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Critics Circle.
Key facts
- Wendell Berry died on Monday at his home in Port Royal, Kentucky, at age 92, as confirmed by his daughter Mary Berry.[Associated Press]
- Berry was a prolific author of more than 40 books of poetry, essays, and novels, including 'Nathan Coulter' and the 1977 agrarian manifesto 'The Unsettling of America.'[Associated Press]
- He was awarded a National Humanities Medal and received a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Critics Circle in 2016.[Associated Press]
- Berry was born in Henry County, Kentucky, in 1934 and returned to settle at Lanes Landing in the late 1960s after living in New York and attending Stanford University.[Associated Press]
- In 2020, Berry and his wife filed a lawsuit objecting to the University of Kentucky's plan to remove a controversial Great Depression-era fresco created by his wife's aunt.[Associated Press]