Paulette Jiles | |
|---|---|
 Jiles in 2017 | |
| Born | Paulette Kay Jiles April 4, 1943 Salem, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | July 8, 2025 (aged 82) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation |
|
| Alma mater | University of Missouri–Kansas City |
| Notable works | News of the World (2016) |
| Notable awards | Governor General's Award (1984) Pat Lowther Award (1985) Gerald Lampert Award (1985) |
| Spouse | Jim Johnson (divorced) |
Paulette Kay Jiles (also known as Paulette K. Jiles, Paulette Jiles-Johnson; April 4, 1943 – July 8, 2025) was an American poet, memoirist and novelist.
Background
[edit]Paulette Kay Jiles was born in 1943 in Salem, Missouri. She attended college at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, graduating in 1968[1] with a major in Romance Languages.[2] Jiles moved to Toronto, Canada in 1969, where she worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation[2] and, subsequently, helped set up native-language FM radio stations with indigenous peoples in the far north of Ontario and Quebec for the next 10 years.[3] In the process, she learned the Ojibwe language spoken by the Anishinaabeg peoples in Ontario and elsewhere.[2]
After marrying Jim Johnson, she moved with him to San Antonio in 1991.[4] After several years of travel, including living in Mexico, the couple resettled in San Antonio in 1995, buying a house in the historical district.[2] After her divorce in 2003, Jiles lived on a 36-acre (14.6 ha) ranch near Utopia, Texas, about 80 miles (128 km) west of San Antonio.[4]
In June 2025, Jiles announced that she had been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.[5] She died at a San Antonio hospital on July 8, 2025, at the age of 82.[6][7]
Writing career
[edit]Her 2016 novel News of the World was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.[8]
Selected bibliography
[edit]- Waterloo Express (1973)
- Celestial Navigation (1984, winner of the 1984 Governor General's Award for English Poetry, the Pat Lowther Award, and the Gerald Lampert Award)
- The Golden Hawks (Where We Live) (1985)
- Sitting in the Club Car Drinking Rum and Karma Kola (1986, nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize)
- The Late Great Human Road Show (1986, nominated for the Books in Canada First Novel Award)
- The Jesse James Poems (1988)
- Blackwater (1988)
- Song to the Rising Sun (1989)
- Cousins (1992)
- Flying Lesson: Selected Poems (1995)
- North Spirit: Sojourns Among the Cree and Ojibway Nations and Their Star Maps (1995)
- Enemy Women (2002, winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize)
- Stormy Weather (2007)
- The Color of Lightning (2009)
- Lighthouse Island (2013)
- News of the World (2016)
- Simon the Fiddler (2020)
- Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss, and Vengeance (2023)
References
[edit]- ^ "October 2016 Archives". UMKC Alumni. UMKC Alumni Association. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Jiles, Paulette. "Author's Page". amazon.com. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ Salaman, Jeff (September 15, 2016). "True Western". texasmonthly.com. Texas Monthly. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ a b Cook-Monroe, Nancy (October 4, 2016). "Former San Antonian Paulette Jiles Nominated for National Book Award". The Rivard Report. (therivardreport.com). Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ Smith, Harrison (July 11, 2025). "Paulette Jiles, acclaimed author of 'News of the World,' dies at 82". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
- ^ Martin, Deborah (July 9, 2025). "'News of the World' author Paulette Jiles dies at 82". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
- ^ Nye, Naomi Shihab (July 10, 2025). "Remembering My Friend Paulette Jiles". Texas Monthly. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
- ^ The New Yorker (October 6, 2016). "The 2016 National Book Awards Finalists". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
