What is John Irving?
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox writer <!--for more information, see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]]--> | name = John Irving | image = John Irving at Cologne 2010 (7108).jpg | caption = Irving in Cologne, Germany, September&nbsp;14, 2010 | birth_name = John Wallace Blunt Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|03|02}} | birth_place = [[Exeter, New Hampshire]], U.S. | occupation = {{hlist|Novelist|screenwriter}} | alma_mater = {{ubl|[[University of New Hampshire]]|[[University of Iowa]]}} | notableworks = {{ublist|class=nowrap |''[[The World According to Garp]]'' |''[[The Cider House Rules]]'' |''[[A Prayer for Owen Meany]]'' |''[[A Widow for One Year]]''}} | awards = {{awd|[[Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay|Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay]] |[[National Book Award for Fiction#1980 to 1989|Award for paperback general Fiction]] for ''[[The World According to Garp]]''}} | website = {{URL|http://john-irving.com/}} }} '''John Winslow Irving''' (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an [[American Canadians|American-Canadian]] [[novelist]], [[short story]] writer, and [[screenwriter]]. Irving was born in [[Exeter, New Hampshire]]. His parents [[divorce]]d before he was born. His name was changed when his mother married again. His [[Stepfather|step-father]] was a [[teacher]] at [[Phillips Exeter Academy]]. When he [[Graduation|graduated]] from there, Irving went to the [[University of Pittsburgh]]. After one year there, he went to study in [[Vienna, Austria]]. He came back to the United States to study at the [[Iowa Writer's Workshop|University of Iowa Writers' Workshop]]. One of his teachers there was [[Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.]]. In Iowa, he wrote his first novel, ''Setting Free the Bears''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Champion|first=Laurie|date=2004|title=Irving, John|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156539.001.0001/acref-9780195156539-e-0128|access-date=January 29, 2023|website=Oxford Reference - The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature}}</ref>