Edwin Corle

Edwin Corle was born in Wildwood, New Jersey, and educated at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his A.B. in 1928. For the next two years he was a graduate student at Yale University. His writing is noted for realistic portrayals of Native American life in the early twentieth century. After a brief stint at writing for radio, Corle began writing numerous short stories and non-fiction pieces for magazines. In 1934 his “Mojave: A Book of Stories” was published. This was followed a year later by his first and most successful novel, “Fig Tree John,” based on a Cahuilla Indian from southern California. In addition to other novels, Corle also wrote non-fiction, including books on the Grand Canyon and the Gila River. His sophisticated interest in the arts is reflected in his works on Igor Stravinsky and the artist Merle Armitage. In the 1950s, Corle began what was to be his most important effort, a multi-volume novel called "The Californians." The work was left uncompleted upon his death and is included in his extensive papers, letters, and manuscripts donated by Ralph B. Sipper of Santa Barbara to Indiana University in 1997. Another important collection of his papers, including correspondence with Lawrence Clark Powell, is in the Special Collections of UCLA.