William Saroyan

Wiliam Saroyan

1. William Saroyan

2. •William Saroyan

(August
31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was
an American dramatist and
author. He was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama in
1940, and in 1943 won the
Academy Award for Best Story
for the film adaptation of his
novel The Human Comedy.

3. •An Armenian American, 
Saroyan wrote extensively 
about the Armenian 
immigrant life in California. 
Many of his stories and plays 
are set in his native Fresno.
 
Some of his best-known works 
are The Time of Your Life, 
My Name Is Aram and 
My Heart's in the Highlands.

4. •He is recognized as "one of the 
most prominent literary 
figures of the mid-20th 
century." Stephen Fry
 describes Saroyan as "one of 
the most underrated writers of 
the [20th] century." Fry 
suggests that "he takes his 
place naturally 
alongside Hemingway, Steinbe
ck and Faulkner."

5. •Saroyan's stories celebrated
optimism in the midst of the
trials and tribulations of
the Depression. Several of
Saroyan's works were drawn
from his own experiences,
although his approach to
autobiographical fact
contained a fair bit of poetic
license.

6. •Saroyan's plays were drawn from deeply
personal sources, and often disregarded the
convention that conflict is essential to
drama. My Heart's in the Highlands (1939), his
first play, was a comedy about a young boy and
his Armenian family. It was produced at the
Guild Theatre in New York.

7. •Saroyan's plays were drawn from deeply
personal sources, and often disregarded the
convention that conflict is essential to
drama. My Heart's in the Highlands (1939), his
first play, was a comedy about a young boy and
his Armenian family. It was produced at the
Guild Theatre in New York.