BIOGRAPHY OR HISTORY?

The famous equestrian portrait of 14th-century soldier of fortune John Hawkwood, painted by Paolo Uccello, lives in the cathedral in Florence – the republic that most often employed him as a condottiere, or leader of a band of mercenary soldiers, in the incessant wars that engulfed Italy at that time. Yet the editors at Fourth Estate, an imprint of the publisher Harper-Collins, are apparently concerned that American readers haven’t heard of him; or, perhaps, that they don’t like biographies.

Frances Stonor Saunders’s biography of the brutal yet brilliant mercenary, published by Faber & Faber as “Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman” (Faber & Faber) in the United Kingdom, has been repackaged for American readers as a history, “The Devil’s Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth-Century Italy.” This achieves a nice clip of alliteration, but it seems strange to demote the poor man to the point of not placing his name somewhere in the title of his biography.

“There were good ways to die, and bad ways to die,” begins Ms. Saunders’s book. And good ways and bad to be posthumously remembered. Hawkwood received better treatment from his former employers: Though he fought against Florence earlier in his military career, Hawkwood, who was born in Essex, was eventually granted citizenship there, and honored with a state funeral when he died.

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NOTES

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has awarded the first David C. Driskell Prize to Kellie Jones, assistant professor in the departments of History of Art and African American Studies at Yale University. Ms. Jones is also a co-curator of the exhibition “Basquiat,” which opened last week at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The $25,000 cash prize honors contributions to the field of African-American art and art history. … The $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award from Claremont Graduate University has been given to Michael Ryan this year for his recently published collection, “New and Selected Poems” (Houghton Mifflin). In addition, the $10,000 Kate Tufts Discovery Award to an emerging poet “of genuine promise” from CGU went to Patrick Phillips for his first book of poetry “Chattahoochee” (University of Arkansas Press, 2004). Endowed by the late philanthropist Kate Frost Tufts, the annual award was named in honor of her husband, Kingsley Tufts. … The Writers’ Trust of Canada announced the winners of eight literary prizes for Canadian writers. The Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize ($12,450) went to Alice Munro for “Runaway” (McClelland & Stewart/Douglas Gibson Books); the Pearson Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize ($12,450) went to Elaine Dewar for “The Second Tree: Of Clones, Chimeras, and Quests for Immortality” (Random House Canada); the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize ($8,300) went to Peter C. Newman for “Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion and Power” McClelland & Stewart/Douglas Gibson Books); the Writers’ Trust Of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize ($8,300) for a short story or excerpt from a novel-in-progress went to Devin Krukoff for “The Last Spark,” published in the periodical Grain; the Timothy Findley Award ($12,450) to a male writer in midcareer for a body of work went to David Adams Richards; the Marian Engel Award ($12,450) to a female writer in mid-career for a body of work went to Dianne Warren; the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature ($12,450) given for a body of work, went to Deborah Ellis; the Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life ($16,600) went to Howard Engel.