Dean Hughes

Dean Hughes was born on August 24, 1943, in Ogden, Utah.^[1] After his senior year in high school, Dean Hughes started his first novel; however, the novel was rejected.^[2] He attended Weber State University studying English, and received a Masters in creative writing and a PhD in literature from the University of Washington. Before he became a full-time writer, he taught English at Central Missouri State University for 8 years. Hughes also taught creative writing at Brigham Young University.^[2]

In 1979, Dean Hughes published his first book, Under the Same Stars. Since 1979, Hughes has written and published 105 books.^[3] Hughes has published poems, books, and short stories for a variety of ages.^[1] Much of his writing is targeted to children and young adults (particularly sports-themed and World War II-era books), although he is also well known to adult readers of LDS Fiction for Children of the Promise and Hearts of the Children series, set in World War II and Vietnam War eras respectively.^[2][4] According to Eugene England, Hughes is one of the authors of the fourth and current period of Mormon literature who is credited with writing high quality children's and young adult literature.^[5]

In 2001, his World War II novel Soldier Boys was published. In September 2013, Hughes celebrated the publication of his 100th book, Through Cloud and Sunshine.^[6] Hughes's 2003 novel, Midway to Heaven, was adapted into a feature-length film of the same title in 2011. This was the first of Hughes's published works to be adapted into a film.^[7]

Hughes was the keynote speaker for Brigham Young University-Idaho's Education week in June 2018.^[8]

Personal life

Dean Hughes is married to Kathleen Hurst Hughes and has three children and nine grandchildren. They live in Midway, Utah.^[1][9] Hughes and his wife Kathy served an LDS mission in Nauvoo, Illinois.^[10] Hughes is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[1]

In 2005, Hughes won the Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters for Children of the Promise.^[11] In 2007, Hughes received a Lifetime Achievement award at the inaugural Whitney Awards.^[12] In April 2013 he was awarded an Outstanding Achievement AML Award.^[13]

He has also received AML Awards for Young Adult Literature (1994) for The Trophy, Novel (1998) for Far from Home, and Novel (2019) for Muddy: Where Faith and Polygamy Collide. He was a finalist or received an honorable mention in 2005 and 2007.

Bibliographical items are found on the Mormon Literature & Creative Arts website.^[1]