Show girl writes prize winning first novel at 22 about family life over three generations fr Z Z w f 1117 wf P 44 WN SIR maa X at W N 1 1 I MM z 1 15 AA 4 A f W Y rene kuhn huhn who critics say promises to be one of the very brigl bright stars authors of prize winning f first novels keep getting younger and younger latest is rene kuhn who at 22 has produced a work that has won high praise from hard bitten critics her book 34 charlton won the major hopwood award for fiction in 1944 and went into three printings paintings prin tings before being released to dealers this is the second hopwood award that miss kuhn has garnered however since she captured the short story prize in 1943 her poetry also attracted attention during her school years way back when she was oni only y 10 she wrote an essay on the old frigate the U S S constitution that won first prize at san marino hall pasadena calif so writing her way to fame is just a habit for miss kuhn 34 charlton is a three generation story about a family in new york city it centers about a girls self emancipation from a possessive matriarchal tri household most of the action is placed in the greenwich village section miss kuhn who lives in the village at present is the fourth generation of her family T to 0 become a part of the famous colony of writers and artists she knows the background of her story int intimately her birthplace nevertheless was far from new york it was honolulu her father was the then editor of 01 the honolulu star bulletin her moth er r a foreign correspondent for a large arge syndicate soon the family journeyed to shanghai china and she spent her early years in that distant land she learned chinese before english in her travels with her mother after her father died she saw a good part of the world today she speaks frencht french spanish and portuguese as well as english but her chinese is getting rusty from disuse after attending many schools rene matriculated at swarthmore college she was graduated from the university of michigan in 1944 it was during her junior year that she began her novel that has sky rock eted her to nationwide notice she is now at work on a second story which she hopes to finish this year while visiting in brazil rene despite her international experiences perien Peri ence ces is completely american she hopes to settle in the west with an apartment in san francisco Franci jv a and a ranch in colorado 1 I like the west vest she says because of its somehow western people leopie nave have time to be pra cinn 11 to be pra cinn 11 gracious gr accious katherine brush brilliant and whimsical newspaper and magazine writer says rene has a fine f ine new talent the story is unfailingly interesting in te gene fowler fo aler goes even eve n farther rene kuhn in her first novel promises to be one of the very bright stars I 1 |