Charles Bukowski facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski in 1988
Born	Heinrich Karl Bukowski (1920-08-16)August 16, 1920 Andernach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Died	March 9, 1994(1994-03-09) (aged 73) San Pedro, Los Angeles, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, poet, short story writer, columnist
Nationality	German-American
Literary movement	Dirty realism, Transgressive fiction

Henry Charles Bukowski (boo-KOW-skee; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was an American writer. He wrote many poems, novels, and short stories. His writing often showed the everyday lives of ordinary people in Los Angeles.

Bukowski started publishing his work in the early 1940s. He wrote thousands of poems and hundreds of short stories. He also wrote six novels. During his life, he published over sixty books.

He was not very well-known by critics in the USA. But he was more popular in Europe, especially in the UK and Germany, where he was born.

Charles Bukowski: A Writer's Life

Early Life and Challenges

Bukowski's birthplace in Andernach, Germany

Charles Bukowski was born Heinrich Karl Bukowski in Andernach, Germany. His father was an American soldier of German background. He stayed in Germany after World War I.

Bukowski's parents met in Andernach. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1930. His father often did not have a job.

Young Bukowski spoke English with a German accent. Other children made fun of him. He was shy and did not like being around people. This got worse when he was a teenager. The Great Depression made him feel angry. This anger later became a big part of his writing.

After high school, Bukowski went to Los Angeles City College. He studied art, journalism, and literature for two years. He left college when World War II started. Then he moved to New York City. He hoped to become a writer while working blue-collar jobs.

In 1944, Bukowski was arrested by the FBI. They thought he was trying to avoid joining the army. He was held for seventeen days. Later, he failed a mental health test. He was then declared unfit for military service.

Starting His Writing Journey

When Bukowski was 24, his short story "Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip" was published. Two years later, another story came out. But he found it hard to get his work published. He stopped writing for almost ten years. These "lost years" later became stories in his books. He often wrote about his life using a character named Henry Chinaski.

During this time, he lived in Los Angeles. He worked odd jobs and stayed in cheap rooms. In the early 1950s, he worked as a letter carrier for the post office. But he quit before working there for three years.

In 1955, Bukowski had a serious illness. After leaving the hospital, he started writing poetry. That same year, he married a poet named Barbara Frye. They divorced in 1958.

Some of Bukowski's poems were published in the late 1950s. A small magazine called Nomad published his early work. In 1960, Nomad also published one of his well-known essays.

A New Chapter: Full-Time Writer

By 1960, Bukowski was back at the post office in Los Angeles. He worked as a letter filing clerk for over ten years. In 1962, he was very sad when his first serious girlfriend, Jane Cooney Baker, died. He wrote many poems and stories about her death.

5124 DeLongpre Avenue, Los Angeles, now Bukowski Court, where Bukowski lived from 1963 to 1972

In 1960, his first separate publication came out. It was a broadside (a single sheet of paper) called "His Wife, the Painter." Later that year, his first small book of poems, "Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail," was published.

In 1964, his daughter, Marina Louise Bukowski, was born. Her mother was Frances Smith.

In 1969, Bukowski got an offer from Black Sparrow Press publisher John Martin. He decided to quit his post office job to write full-time. He was 49 years old. He said he would rather "starve" as a writer than stay at the post office. Less than a month after quitting, he finished his first novel, Post Office. He published most of his later major books with Black Sparrow Press.

In 1976, Bukowski met Linda Lee Beighle. She owned a health food restaurant. Two years later, he moved to San Pedro. Beighle followed him. They lived together and later married in 1985. Linda Lee Beighle is called "Sara" in his novels Women and Hollywood.

In the 1980s, Bukowski worked with cartoonist Robert Crumb. Bukowski wrote the stories, and Crumb drew the pictures for comic books. Crumb also illustrated some of Bukowski's stories in the 1990s.

His Final Years and Lasting Impact

Henry Charles Bukowski Jr.'s grave in Green Hills Memorial Park

Bukowski died on March 9, 1994, in San Pedro. He was 73 years old and had leukemia. He finished his last novel, Pulp, just before he died. He is buried in Green Hills Memorial Park.

In 2006, Bukowski's writings were given to the Huntington Library. Copies of all his books from Black Sparrow Press are at Western Michigan University.

New collections of his poems are still being released. These come from thousands of works published in small magazines.

What Influenced His Writing?

Many writers influenced Bukowski's style. Some of them include John Fante, Knut Hamsun, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Ernest Hemingway, and Henry Miller.

Bukowski often said that Los Angeles was his favorite topic. He felt a strong connection to the city. He said he couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Bukowski also gave live readings of his works. He started on a radio station in 1962. He did more readings through the 1970s.

His Books and Poems

Novels

• 1971 – Post Office
• 1975 – Factotum
• 1978 – Women
• 1982 – Ham on Rye
• 1989 – Hollywood
• 1994 – Pulp

Poetry Collections

Short Stories

Nonfiction Books