Raymond Carver was an American short story writer and poet. He was born in Clatskanie, Oregon in 1938 and grew up in Yakima, Washington. His father was a sawmill worker and his mother was a waitress and clerk. Carver’s parents divorced when he was young, and he and his siblings were raised in poverty. Despite these challenges, Carver was a talented writer from an early age. He published his first poem at the age of 17 and began writing short stories in his 20s.
Carver attended Chico State College in California and later received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Humboldt State College. He also earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa.
Carver’s early writing was heavily influenced by the Beat Generation and the Black Mountain poets. His first collection of poems, “Near Klamath,” was published in 1968, and his first collection of short stories, “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?”, was published in 1976.
Carver is best known for his minimalist writing style, which often focused on the struggles of working-class people and the complexities of relationships. His work has been described as “dirty realism” and has been compared to that of Ernest Hemingway and John Cheever.
Carver’s most famous works include the collections “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” “Cathedral,” and “Where I’m Calling From.” He received numerous awards and accolades for his writing, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and a Pulitzer Prize nomination.
Carver died of lung cancer in 1988 at the age of 50.
Though Carver’s works are not in the public domain, there are a number of audiobooks readings freely available on youtube and we feature them in place of the text.
