Charles Clyde Bowden (July 20, 1945 – August 30, 2014) was an American non-fiction author, journalist and essayist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He was best known for his work documenting violence on the Mexico-United States border, especially in and around Ciudad Juarez.

Early life and education

Bowden was born on July 20, 1945, in Joliet, Illinois, and grew up first in Chicago and later in Tucson, Arizona. He attended Tucson High School, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wisconsin, where he obtained his master's degree in American intellectual history; while there he walked out as he was defending his dissertation for his doctorate, annoyed by the questions asked him by the review committee.

Career

Bowden was a writer for the Tucson Citizen and often wrote about the American Southwest. He was a contributing editor of GQ and Mother Jones magazine, and he wrote for other periodicals, including Harper's Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Esquire, High Country News, and Aperture. Bowden was the winner of the 1996 Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction, the PEN Center USA’s First Amendment Award in 2011, and a 2010 award from United States Artists. He was known for his writings on the situation at the US–Mexico border and wrote often about the effects of the War on Drugs on the lives of the people in that region. Earlier in his career his writings focused more on environmental issues, the beauty of nature, and sustainability challenges.

Personal life and death

Bowden was married and divorced twice, and had long-term relationships and professional partnerships with writer Mary Martha Miles and research librarian Molly Molloy. He died in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on August 30, 2014, after a brief illness. He was survived by his son and two siblings. He left a number of manuscripts that are being published posthumously by The Bowden Publishing Project, which is also reissuing some of his earlier books. His work and life were the subject of the Spring 2019 special issue of Journal of the Southwest, and a related book, America's Most Alarming Writer: Essays on the Life and Work of Charles Bowden.

Selected works

Archival sources