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Edmund White

American novelist and LGBT essayist (1940-2025) · United States · On the map · Writers · Died at 85

Edmund Valentine White III was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer and essayist. A pioneering figure in LGBTQ and especially gay literature after the Stonewall riots, he wrote with rare candor about gay identity, relationships, and sex.

Edmund White is read about 147 times a day, in 25 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.

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Awards

National Book Award2019
National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography1993
Lambda Literary Award
Guggenheim Fellowship

About this person

His work emerged as part of an increasingly solidified and visible LGBTQ community, helping to reshape public narratives at a time when coming out was still a dangerous, even radical act. His writing, noted for intimate depth and literary elegance, includes the semi-autobiographical trilogy A Boy's Own Story (1982), The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988), and The Farewell Symphony (1997). He also co-authored The Joy of Gay Sex (1977), promoting sex-positive discourse.

Country
United States
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 1940 to 2025 · aged 85

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