Maxine Clair

Maxine Deloris Clair (née Smith; February 18, 1939 – September 5, 2025) was an American novelist, poet and short-story writer. Her debut novel Rattlebone won the Heartland Prize in 1994.^[1][2] She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction in 1995.^[3]

Life and career

Born in Kansas City, Kansas, on February 18, 1939,^[4][5] Clair attended the University of Kansas and went onto a career in medical technology, becoming the chief technologist at a children's hospital in the Washington, D.C., area. While working in the hospital she became interested in writing and completed an M.F.A at American University.^[6] Clair went on to become a professor at George Washington University until 2008 when she retired as professor emerita.^[6][7] Her first book, the poetry collection Coping with Gravity, was published in 1988.^[8]

Clair's best known work is the 1994 novel Rattlebone, the title of which comes from the neighborhood Rattlebone Hollow in the north of Kansas City. The novel was reissued by McNally Editions in 2022.^[9] Her book received a Heartland Prize during 1994.^[10] A character from Rattlebone, the teacher October Brown, reappears in a later novel October Suite, which was a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in 2002.

Clair died in Washington, D.C., on September 5, 2025, at the age of 86.^[4][11]

References

1. Story, Rosalyn (2014-11-10). "Rosalyn Story on Maxine Clair and Imagine This". Agate Publishing. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
2. "FRIENDS OF LITERATURE DROPS ANNUAL AWARDS PROGRAM". Chicago Tribune. 1995-04-06. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
3. "Search Results - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation". 2013-07-04. Archived from the original on 2013-07-04. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
4. Smith, Harrison (September 20, 2025). "Quitting her job to write, Maxine Clair won acclaim for 'Rattlebone'". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
5. Risen, Clay (September 25, 2025). "Maxine Clair, Writer Who Came to Her Craft in Middle Age, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
6. "FOR MAXINE CLAIR, WRITING WAS WORTH THE RISK". Orlando Sentinel. 1994-08-06. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
7. Hopkinson, Natalie (7 October 2002). "At the Hurston/Wright Awards, an Anthology of Talent". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
8. Peacock, Scot, ed. (2000). "Clair, Maxine". Contemporary Authors. Vol. 179. p. 149. ISBN 0787632392. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
9. Duerden, Nick (2023-06-11). "Rattlebone by Maxine Clair review – overlooked coming-of-age classic". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
10. Tyner, Howard A., ed. (October 9, 1994). "The 1994 Chicago Tribune Literary Awards". The Chicago Tribune. p. sec. 14 p. 10.
11. "Maxine Clair obituary". The Washington Post. September 18, 2025. Retrieved September 23, 2025.