Departures of note

John Crowley was an American author of fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and nonfiction. Born in Presque Isle, Maine, he studied at Indiana University before moving to New York City to pursue filmmaking, building a second career as a documentary film writer. His scripts for historical documentaries aired on public television and earned numerous awards, with works shown at the New York and Berlin film festivals.

Crowley's first published novels were science fiction, including The Deep (1975) and Beasts (1976), followed by Engine Summer (1979). His breakthrough came with Little, Big (1981), which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was hailed by critic Harold Bloom as a 'neglected masterpiece' and among the best novels of the 20th century. He later wrote the ambitious four-volume Ægypt cycle, which Bloom also championed, and received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature.

Crowley taught creative writing at Yale University from 1993 and at the Clarion West Writers' Workshop. His later novel Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (2017) won the Mythopoeic Award and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2006. Crowley died on August 8, 2026, at the age of 83.