James Farl Powers was born in Jacksonville, Illinois and educated at Quincey College Academy, Illinois and Northwestern University, Chicago. In 1938, he edited The Illinois Historical Records Survey.
“I have the ability to create and be in touch with God. I can’t change bread and wine into the body and blood, but I can take the scum or the slime of the earth and make it into a man or woman.”
– James Farl Powers (1917-1999)
He taught at St. John’s University, Minnesota (1947), Marquette University, Wisconsin (1949-51), University of Michigan (1956-57) etc. He received the National Institute of Arts and Letters grant, 1948; Guggenteim Fellowship 1948; Rockfeller Fellowship 1954, 1957, 1967; National Book Award 1963. He has published a novel, Morte d’Urban (1962) and volumes of short stories: Prince of Darkness and Other Stories (1947), The Presence of Grace (1956), Look How the Fish Live (1975).
Some of his best early stories deal with racial conflict in and around Chicago, but for the most part he has written about the moral and practical quandaries of Catholic life, particularly as these are manifested in the priesthood. The story “The Valiant Woman” concerns Roman Catholic priests in off-duty moment, and their relations.
