| Edmund White in Paris in 1986. Photo by Ulf Andersen |
Where to start with: Edmund White
After the news of White’s death, here is a guide to a foundational writer of gay lives and elder statesman of American queer literary fiction
Neil Bartlett
Wednesday 4 June 2025
Edmund White, who has died aged 85, was born in Cincinatti, to conservative, homophobic parents. Although he soon rejected almost all his family’s cultural values, he retained their work ethic: White published 36 books in his lifetime, and was working on a tale of queer life in Versailles when he died.