author
William Styron
1925–2006
Known for intense, beautifully written novels that wrestle with memory, morality, and suffering, he became one of the most widely discussed American writers of the 20th century. His best-known books include The Confessions of Nat Turner and Sophie's Choice.
1 Audiobook
The long march
by William Styron
About the author
Born in Newport News, Virginia, in 1925, William Styron drew deeply on Southern history and personal experience in his fiction. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the final stretch of World War II, studied at Duke University, and published his first novel, Lie Down in Darkness, in 1951.
Styron went on to write a small but influential body of work, including The Long March, Set This House on Fire, The Confessions of Nat Turner, and Sophie's Choice. The Confessions of Nat Turner won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, while Sophie's Choice brought him an even wider audience and was later adapted into an acclaimed film.
Later in life, Styron wrote with unusual openness about depression in his memoir Darkness Visible, a book that helped many readers understand severe mental illness in human terms. He died in 2006, and his work remains admired for its emotional force, seriousness, and willingness to take on painful subjects.