Richard Powers (1957–) is an American novelist who studied physics and worked as a computer programmer before turning to fiction. His novels connect specialized subjects—including science, technology, music, memory, and ecology—with the lives of individuals and families. “The Overstory,” which follows nine people whose relationships with trees draw them into efforts to protect old-growth forests, won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. By placing trees and their vastly longer timescales at the center of the narrative, the novel examines deforestation, environmental activism, and the limits of a worldview organized entirely around human needs.
