Happy Deathday Ms. Welty!

On this day in 2001, 6-time winner of the O. Henry Award for Short Stories, National Medal for Literature and A1969 Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty died in her Mississippi home at the age of 92.

Welty is often called the First Lady of Southern Literature and it’s not hard to see why. Though she only wrote 5 novels and numerous volumes of short stories, with Welty it is purely a matter of quality vs. quantity. Like Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner, her work reflects the seedy underbelly of small town America and uses deeply flawed and grotesque characters to strengthen her often bizarre plots. Welty is certainly one of the strongest voices in Southern Gothic lit.

Our favorite works include her 1984 memoir “One Writer’s Beginnings”, “The Optimist’s Daughter” and her first collection of short stories “A Curtain of Green”  which was published in 1941.

If you are interested in Eudora Welty’s full biography and works, we recommend a visit to  the Eudora Welty Foundation, our resource for all things Eudora!

Today, we encourage our readers to reflect on why they love to read and/or write. What first drew your attention to the words on the pages in front you… Ms. Welty often reflected on things like this and drew on her personal experiences to craft her marvelous stories. So… write about your origins as a writer!

Write on in peace, Ms. Welty!