Eudora Welty

At 92 years old, Eudora Welty physical status not available right now. We will update Eudora Welty's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer and novelist who wrote about the American South.

Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.

Welty received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Order of the South.

She was the first living author to have her works published by the Library of America.

Her house in Jackson, Mississippi, has been designated as a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public as a house museum.

Source

Writing career and major works

"Death of a Traveling Salesman," Welty's first short story, was published in 1936. Katherine Anne Porter, author Katherine Anne Porter, who became a mentor to her and wrote the foreword to Welty's first collection of short stories, A Curtain of Green, 1941, attracted her interest. The book launched Welty as one of American literature's top lights, as it included the stories "Why I Live at the P.O." "Petrified Man" and the often anthologized "A Worn Path" are two of the "Petrified Paths" that have been posted. Welty's book was published in journals including The Atlantic Monthly, the Junior League of Jackson, of which Welty was a member, and the publishers have requested permission to reprint some of her articles. She has written more than forty short stories, five books, three non-fiction books, and one children's book.

"Why I Live at the P.O." is a short story. The Atlantic Monthly was published in 1941 with two others. In A Curtain of Green, Welty's first collection of short stories, it was republished later this year. The tale tells about Sister and how she became estranged from her family and ends up living in the post office, where she works. The story, which has been regarded by critics as a masterpiece of Southern literature, satisfies family ties. Welty masterfully captures Southern idiom and places the emphasis on location and customs in many of her short stories. In The Atlantic Monthly and A Curtain of Green, "A Worn Path" was also published. It is regarded as one of the world's best short stories, winning the second-place O. Henry Award in 1941.

The Robber Bridegroom (1942), Welty's debut book, deviated from her previous psychologically oriented books by presenting static, fairy tale characters. Some commentators believe she was concerned about "encroaching on the turf of the male literary giant to the north of her in Oxford, Mississippi," William Faulkner, who wrote in a fairy tale rather than a historical one. Most commentators and readers read it as a modern Southern fairy tale, noting that it uses plots and characters reminiscent of the Grimm Brothers' works.

Welty wrote Where Is the Voice Coming From? immediately after Medgar Evers' assassination in 1963. "I know who the murderer is, not his name," she later wondered, but in this time and place, it's where she came from. That is to say, I should have known by now, from here, what such a man, intent on such a deed, had been thinking about. In the first person: from the character's point of view, I wrote his story—my fiction—in the first person: about that individual's point of view." The New Yorker published Welty's story right after Byron De La Beckwith's detention.

The Optimist's Daughter (1972) is considered by some to be the best book in the world today, and by some it is considered to be the world's best novel. It was written at a much later date than the bulk of her work. The book, according to poet Howard Moss of The New York Times, is "a miracle of compression," the book is "a tiny book with a big amount but with a long history of work." When the daughter and the second wife of a judge confront each other in the confines of a hospital room, the judge underwent eye surgery, the focus is on family struggles.

Welty gave a series of addresses at Harvard University, including one that was republished as One Writer's Beginnings (Harvard, 1983). It was the first book to be released by Harvard University Press as a New York Times Best Seller (at least 32 weeks on the list), as well as the runner-up for the 1984 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

In 1992, she was given the Rea Award for her lifetime contributions to the American short story. Welty was a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, which was established in 1987. She has taught creative writing at colleges and workshops. She grew up in Jackson's Belhaven College and was a common sight among the locals.

Welty influenced several young Mississippi writers in their careers, including Richard Ford, Ellen Gilchrist, and Elizabeth Spencer. She was a founding member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

Source