John Edward Williams (August 29, 1922 – March 3, 1994) was an American author, poet, editor, and professor. His first novel, Nothing But the Night, was published in 1948, and his first volume of poems, The Broken Landscape, followed a year later. His most popular novels are Butcher's Crossing (1960), Stoner (1965), and Augustus (1972), which won a U.S. National Book Award. In the fall of 1955, Williams took over the directorship of the creative writing program at the University of Denver, where he remained for more than 30 years. After retiring from the position, Williams moved with his wife, Nancy, to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he lived until he died of respiratory failure on March 3, 1994. A fifth novel, The Sleep of Reason, was left incomplete at the time of his death.