Richard Powers

Richard Powers

Richard Powers was born on June 18th, 1957 and is currently 69 years old. Richard Powers was born in Evanston, Illinois, USA. Powers attended the University of Illinois where he received a B.A. and an M.A.

Richard Powers is known for writing in the Science Fiction and Literary Fiction genres.

Richard Powers has written 14 standalone novels, starting with Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance in 1985. The most recently released novel was Playground, which was released in 2024. There are no upcoming standalone novels by Richard at this time.

Richard Powers was the runner-up in the 2019 Dayton Literary Peace Prize awards, fiction category, for his novel The Overstory.

In 1989, Richard received the MacArthur Fellowship for his ambitious and intellectually demanding novels about cognitive neuroscience and World War I history.

He has been the Swanlund Professor of English at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, as well as a professor at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

Richard Powers: Awards & Accolades

Powers' book, The Echo Maker won the National Book Awards, Best Fiction, in 2006.

The following novels by Richard Powers were nominated for these awards:

• Operation Wandering Soul: National Book Awards, Best Fiction (1993).
• Generosity: Arthur C. Clarke Award, Best Science Fiction Novel (2011).
• The Overstory: Goodreads Awards, Best Fiction (2018). Booker Prize, Best Fiction Book (2018). Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Fiction (2019).
• Bewilderment: Goodreads Awards, Best Fiction (2021). Booker Prize, Best Fiction Book (2021).
• Playground: Goodreads Awards, Best Fiction (2024). Libby Book Awards, Best Adult Fiction (2025).

Richard Powers: Lists & Other Mentions

• The Overstory was a Library Science Book Club January 2023 Pick.
• Bewilderment was the Oprah's Book Club 2.0 September 2021 Pick.
• Playground was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club November 2024 Pick.
• The Overstory:
  1. New York Times: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Selection in 2024.
  2. The Daily Mail: A Hundred Novels to Change Your Life Selection in 2019.
  3. Chicago Tribune: Best Books of the Decade (2010s) Selection in 2019.
  4. BBC: Radio Oxford 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die Selection in 2020.
  5. Los Angeles Times: The 30 Best Fiction Books of the Last 30 Years Selection in 2025.
• Bewilderment: New York Times: 100 Notable Books Selection in 2021.
• Playground: Time Magazine: 100 Must-Read Books Selection in 2024.

The Overstory was listed at #5 on the Los Angeles Times "Best Fiction Books of the Last 30 Years" list, which was published in April 2025.

Related Authors

Fans of Richard Powers also enjoy these authors:

1. Emily St. John Mandel, author of: Station Eleven.
2. Peng Shepherd, author of: The Cartographers.
3. Elif Shafak, author of: The Island of Missing Trees.
4. Kurt Vonnegut Jr., author of: Slaughterhouse-Five.
5. Percival Everett, author of: James.
6. Alice Sebold, author of: The Lovely Bones.
7. Peter Heller, author of: The Dog Stars.
8. Robin Sloan, author of the Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Series.
9. Eleanor Catton, author of: The Luminaries.
10. Alix E. Harrow, author of: The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

Richard Powers: F.A.Q