Kay Boyle

Kay Boyle, 1903–93, American writer, b. St. Paul, Minn. A European expatriate in the interwar years, she returned to Europe as a correspondent for the New Yorker (1946–53) and subsequently taught English at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State Univ.). Her novels and stories often illuminate a desperate moment when courageous action is demanded although tragedy ...

Kay Boyle, 1903–93, American writer, b. St. Paul, Minn. A European expatriate in the interwar years, she returned to Europe as a correspondent for the New Yorker (1946–53) and subsequently taught English at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State Univ.). Her novels and stories often illuminate a desperate moment when courageous action is demanded although tragedy will probably result. Among her works are the novel Plagued by Nightingales (1931); short-story collections, Nothing Ever Breaks Except the Heart (1966) and Fifty Stories (1980); and a collection of essays, The Long Walk at San Francisco State and Other Essays (1970).

See biography by J. Mellen (1994).