Art imitates life for Exeter’s John Irving

Sunday, December 28, 2025

John Irving’s breakthrough novel The World According to Garp (1978) won the National Book Award and was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize. Showing his versatility, he also received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Cider House Rules (2000) and a Lambda Literary Award, given to writers addressing LGBTQ+ issues, in 2013 for In One Person. A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989) is the best-selling of his 16 novels.