Eudora Welty

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Eudora Welty Biography

Eudora Welty had good ears, the kind that can pick up and process the subtleties of a dialogue or an accent—the kind of ears that can make for great writing. And a great writer she undoubtedly was. Her most celebrated medium was the short story, and her main subject was the family, though she personally never married. Her favorite setting was generally the South, in particular Mississippi, where she spent the majority of her life. Imbuing her work with both a sense of humor and respect, Welty created characters that are often lonely and complex, full of longing but strangely fulfilled. Besides four collections of celebrated short stories, she also wrote an influential nonfiction book, On Writing (1942). Her main advice to new writers? Learn to listen, of course.

Facts and Trivia

  • Although many of her stories feature eccentric and strong women, feminist scholars shunned Welty’s work for a long time because of negative comments she made about the feminist movement in the 1970s.
  • Welty also had great eyes. She was an accomplished photographer who for three years during the 1930s took pictures of the Depression-stricken South.
  • Intensely private, Welty refused to talk about personal influences in her work, preferring that the writing speak for itself.
  • Welty was the first woman to enter Peterhouse College in Cambridge.
  • Welty maintained her sense of humor until the end. When a doctor asked her if there was anything he could do as she lay dying, she quipped, “No, but thanks for inviting me to the party.”

Biography

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Eudora Welty's life began in Jackson, Mississippi, where she was born on April 13, 1909. Her roots remained deeply planted in Jackson, where she spent the majority of her life. As the only daughter of Christian Webb Welty and Mary Chestina Andrews Welty, Eudora had two younger brothers and grew up in a family that moved to Mississippi shortly after her parents married in 1904.

Family Background and Beginnings

Christian Welty, originally from Ohio, became the president of the Lamar Life Insurance Company, a well-known enterprise. In contrast, Eudora's mother hailed from West Virginia, coming from a lineage of pre-Revolutionary War Virginians, enriched by country preachers, educators, and lawyers. Although Welty herself expressed reticence about her life being documented in a biography, she believed in the importance of keeping one's private life private. However, she acknowledged that a writer's work mattered more than their personal life, leading her to document her family history and early life in her memoir, One Writer’s Beginnings, published to acclaim in 1984.

Educational Journey and Influences

Welty's assertion that her biography might not be of great interest could stem from her relatively conventional American upbringing. As noted by Porter in the introduction to A Curtain of Green, Welty did not exemplify the "spiritual and intellectual exile" often associated with modern artists. Her educational path saw her through Central High School in Jackson and Mississippi State College for Women. In 1927, she transferred to the University of Wisconsin, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1929, before studying advertising at Columbia University's School of Business.

Early Career and the Works Progress Administration

With the Great Depression impacting the nation, Welty returned to Jackson, seeking employment. Her career in the following years included advertising, radio scriptwriting, and part-time journalism. Perhaps most influential was her role as a junior publicity agent with the U.S. Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1933 to 1936. This position required her to travel across Mississippi, covering WPA projects and interacting with a diverse range of people, experiences that honed her observational skills and enriched her storytelling.

Photography and Literary Breakthrough

Welty's stint with the WPA also involved capturing photographs, some of which were showcased in a New York gallery and later included in her collection, One Time, One Place. After numerous rejections, her breakthrough came in 1936 with the publication of "Death of a Traveling Salesman" in Manuscript. Her talent caught the attention of literary figures like Robert Penn Warren and John Woodburn, leading to the publication of her first story collection, A Curtain of Green, and Other Stories, in 1941, followed by her novel, The Robber Bridegroom, in 1942.

Recognition and Community Involvement

Welty was widely recognized for her humane and modest nature, graciously accepting numerous awards and honors throughout her career. Rarely did a year go by post-1940 without her receiving a significant accolade. Beyond her literary achievements, she devoted her time to education, providing support to schoolchildren, scholars, interviewers, and budding writers. Her contributions extended to community initiatives, lectures, charitable activities, and even culinary contributions in the form of cookbook recipes.

The Role of Place in Fiction

In her influential article, "Place in Fiction," Welty articulated the essential role of setting in a writer's growth. Her deep connection to the neo-Tudor home her father built across from Belhaven College, where she listened to music drifting through her window, significantly shaped her work. Music and visual arts emerged as recurring themes in her stories, showcasing her personal life through characters like Miss Eckhart in "June Recital" and Laurel McKelva Hand in The...

(This entire section contains 742 words.)

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Optimist's Daughter, both reflecting her own reverence for art and familial ties.

Response to Civil Rights Criticism

Amidst the civil rights movement, critics challenged Welty for not vocally addressing the cause within her work. She responded to these critiques in a poignant 1965 essay, "Must the Novelist Crusade?" published in Atlantic Monthly. The following year, she addressed southern racism explicitly in her short story "Where Is the Voice Coming From?" published in The New Yorker, inspired by the assassination of a black civil rights leader.

Acknowledgments and Literary Impact

Eudora Welty, in her introduction to The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty, expressed deep gratitude for the encouragement she received over her career. Her upbringing in a family that valued literature, with its fondness for myths and storytelling, was a cornerstone of her narrative style. Although teased for having a "Yankee" father, her work remained rooted in the South's cultural landscape, transcending regional labels with its universal human themes.

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