American writer

Russell Banks

, a leading figure in contemporary literature and known for his portraits of the working class, died on Saturday at the age of 82 from cancer.

The author of such works as

"Continental Drift," "Cloudbuster" and "The Forsaken,"

among others, "has passed away peacefully at his home in upstate New York," his friend, writer Joyce Carol Oates announced Sunday evening. morning.

"His work was exceptional

," Joyce praised on his Twitter account.

"I loved Russell and adored his immense talent and generous heart. 'Cloudcracker' (was) his masterpiece, but all of his work is exceptional," added the author, who, like him, taught creative writing at the prestigious University of Princeton (in New Jersey).

Novelist, short story writer, poet and screenwriter, Banks liked to tell the hardships of the working class through characters who struggle against poverty, addictions and racial and social class problems.

The author reflected in the main characters his own origin and education, since he was

the son of an alcoholic plumber

- a man that Banks said he loved and hated at the same time.

Politically active, he positioned himself against the US military intervention in Iraq.

He also chaired the International Parliament of Writers created by Indian-born British-American writer Salman Rushdie and founded the organization Cities of Refuge North America, a network of asylum sites for writers exiled or threatened with death.

The late was awarded the

John Dos Passos Prize

in 1995, and two of his novels were Pulitzer Prize finalists.

In addition, he received numerous other awards.

"As a writer, I am lucky. But as an American citizen, I am pessimistic," he said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde in 2016. "The middle class has become impoverished, Americans no longer believe that their children will live better than them, or even the same good", the writer thought at the time.

Two of his works became

critically acclaimed

films : "Affliction" (1997), from the novel of the same name, about a small-town policeman investigating a hunting death;

and "The Sweet Hereafter" (1997), based on "Like in Another World," about the aftermath of a fatal school bus accident in a small town in upstate New York.

Russell Banks had also written a film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's book "On the road."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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