John Steinbeck

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John Steinbeck

American novelist

Also known as: John Ernst Steinbeck

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 24, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

In full:: John Ernst Steinbeck

Born:: February 27, 1902, Salinas, California, U.S.

Died:: December 20, 1968, New York, New York (aged 66)

Awards And Honors:: Nobel Prize (1962); National Book Award (1940); Pulitzer Prize (1940)

Notable Works:: “Cannery Row”; “Cup of Gold”; “East of Eden”; “In Dubious Battle”; “Lifeboat”; “Of Mice and Men”; “The Grapes of Wrath”; “The Moon is Down”; “The Pearl”; “The Red Pony”; “Tortilla Flat”; “Travels with Charley: In Search of America”; “Viva Zapata!”

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UK politics: Welsh Tories criticise Of Mice and Men’s removal from GCSE course over racism concerns – as it happened • Dec. 23, 2024, 5:14 AM ET (The Guardian)

John Steinbeck (born February 27, 1902, Salinas, California, U.S.—died December 20, 1968, New York, New York) was an American novelist, best known for The Grapes of Wrath (1939), which summed up the bitterness of the Great Depression decade and aroused widespread sympathy for the plight of migratory farmworkers. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1962. Steinbeck attended Stanford University, Stanford, California, intermittently between 1920 and 1926 but did not take a degree. Before his books attained success, he spent considerable time supporting himself as a manual labourer while writing, and his experiences lent authenticity to his depictions of ...(100 of 545 words)

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