Boyle, Kay, 1903–93, American writer, b. St. Paul, Minn. A European expatriate in the interwar years, she returned to Europe as a correspondent for The New Yorker (1946–53) and subsequently taught English at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State Univ.). Her novels and stories often illuminate a desperate moment when courageous action is demanded although tragedy will probably result. Among her works are the novel Plagued by Nightingales (1931); short-story collections, Nothing Ever Breaks Except the Heart (1966) and Fifty Stories (1980); and a collection of essays, The Long Walk at San Francisco State and Other Essays (1970).

Bibliography

See biography by J. Mellen (1994).

Boyle, Kay

(born Feb. 19, 1902, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.—died Dec. 27, 1992, Mill Valley, Calif.) U.S. writer. Boyle lived in Europe during the 1920s and '30s. Later she served as a European correspondent for The New Yorker (1946–53). Her writing is noted for its elegant style and consistently leftist stance. Her novels, which include Plagued by the Nightingale (1931) and Generation Without Farewell (1960), are less highly regarded than her short stories, which include “The White Horses of Vienna,” “Keep Your Pity,” and “Defeat.”

Boyle, Kay (1903–92) writer; born in St. Paul, Minn. She joined the American expatriate community in Europe (1923–41), returning after the war as the New Yorker's European correspondent (1946–53). A number of her 50 books drew on her European experience. She won two O. Henry Awards for short stories, collections of which include Thirty Stories (1946) and The Smoking Mountain (1951). A lifelong radical, she taught at San Francisco State University (1963–79) and was outspoken in opposing the Vietnam War.