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Eudora Welty Biography
Writer
Eudora Welty lived her life in Jackson, Mississippi and became famous for her stories from the heart of the American South. Her early stories and essays were published in the New Yorker and other magazines, and her first book of collected stories, A Curtain of Green (1941), put her on the literary map. Her books include the novella The Robber Bridegroom (1942) and the novels Delta Wedding (1946) and The Ponder Heart (1954). By the time she won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel The Optimist's Daughter, Welty had become a beloved grande dame of American letters. Her autobiographical book One Writer's Beginnings was published in 1984.
Extra credit: Welty never married and lived nearly her whole life in the family home in which she grew up... The popular e-mail program Eudora was named for Welty by its creator, Steve Dorner... Welty was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1996.
Four Good Links
The Eudora Welty Foundation
Includes a brief biography, some links and an official pitch for preserving her work
The Mississippi Writers Page
A good meaty biography of Welty from the University of Mississippi
Brilliant Careers: Eudora Welty
Gossipy 1999 Salon essay explores Welty's life and impact
Meeting Miss Welty
Delightful little 1970 profile from the New York Times Book Review
Vital Stats
Birth
Birthplace
Death
23 July 2001
(complications from pneumonia, age 92)
Best Known As
Author of Delta Wedding