Yellow Earth

John Sayles works as a fiction writer, screenwriter, actor, and feature film director. His novel Union Dues was nominated for the National Book Award and the National Critics' Circle Award. He has written over a hundred screenplays and was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He has directed eighteen feature films. His films Matewan and Lone Star, as well as his novel A Moment in the Sun, are often used for instruction in history and American studies courses.