William O'Rourke
Professor Emeritus
Specialty: Fiction writing
Degrees: B.A., English, University of Missouri-Kansas City; M.F.A., Writing, Columbia University
William O'Rourke is the author of The Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left (1972), Signs of the Literary Times: Essays, Reviews, Profiles (1993), and On Having a Heart Attack: A Medical Memoir (2006), as well as the novels The Meekness of Isaac (1974), Idle Hands (1981), Criminal Tendencies (1987), and Notts (1996). He is the editor of On the Job: Fiction About Work by Contemporary American Writers (1977) and co-editor of Notre Dame Review: The First Ten Years (2009). His book, Campaign America ‘96: The View From the Couch, first published in 1997, was reissued in paperback with a new, updated epilogue in 2000. A sequel, Campaign America 2000: The View From the Couch, was published in 2001. Two books appeared in 2012. From Indiana University Press, Confessions of a Guilty Freelancer; and from the Notre Dame Press, a 40th anniversary edition of The Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left, with a new Afterword. He has been awarded two NEAs and a New York State Council on the Arts CAPS grant. He was the first James Thurber Writer-in-Residence at the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote a weekly political column for the Chicago Sun-Times from 2001 till 2005.
Selected Publications
- Co-editor. Notre Dame Review: The First Ten Years. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. 2009.
- On Having a Heart Attack: a Medical Memoir. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006.
- Campaign America 2000: The View from the Couch. Chicago: PreviewPort Editions, 2001.
- Campaign America ’96: The View from the Couch. New York: Marlowe & Co., 1997.
- Notts: A Striking Novel. New York: Marlowe & Co., 1996.
- Signs of the Literary Times: Essays, Reviews, Profiles, 1970-1992. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
- Criminal Tendencies. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1987.
- Idle Hands. New York: Delacorte Press, 1981.
- The Meekness of Isaac. New York: Crowell, 1974.
- The Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left. New York: Crowell, 1972.
- O’Rourke, William, ed. On the Job: Fiction about Work by Contemporary American Writers. New York: Vintage Books, 1977.
Contact Information
537 Flanner Hall
(574) 631-7377
worourke@nd.edu
Postal address
Department of English
356 O’Shaughnessy
Notre Dame, IN 46556