Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short-story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter'' won the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1973. Welty received numerous awards, including the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

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 Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

has been designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

and is open to the public as a house museum.

Biography

Eudora Welty was born in

, on April 13, 1909, the daughter of Christian Webb Welty (1879–1931) and Mary Chestina (Andrews) Welty (1883–1966). She grew up with younger brothers Edward Jefferson and Walter Andrews. Her mother was a schoolteacher. Her family were members of the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church. Her childhood home is still standing and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980 prior to being delisted in 1986 because a dormer and deck were added to the roof. Welty soon developed a love of reading, reinforced by her mother, who believed that "any room in our house, at any time in the day, was there to read in, or to be read to." Her father, who worked as an insurance executive, was intrigued by gadgets and machines and inspired in Welty a love of mechanical things. She later used technology for symbolism in her stories and also became an avid photographer, like her father.Johnston, Carol Ann.
Mississippi Writer's Page: Eudora Welty
". MWP: University of Mississippi. Retrieved November 28, 2011. She attended Central High School in Jackson. Near the time of her high-school graduation, Welty moved with her family to a house built for them at 1119 Pinehurst Street, which remained her permanent address until her death. Wyatt C. Hedrick designed the Weltys' Tudor Revival-style home, which is now known as the Eudora Welty House and Garden. EudoraWeltyHouse

Welty studied at the Mississippi State College for Women from 1925 to 1927, then transferred to the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

to complete her studies in English literature. At the suggestion of her father, she studied advertising at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Because she graduated in the depths of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, she struggled to find work in New York. Soon after Welty returned to Jackson in 1931, her father died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. She took a job at a local radio station and wrote as a correspondent about Jackson society for the Memphis newspaper '' The Commercial Appeal''. In 1933, she began work for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

. As a publicity agent, she collected stories, conducted interviews, and took photographs of daily life in Mississippi. She gained a wider view of Southern life and the human relationships that she drew from for her short stories. During this time she also held meetings in her house with fellow writers and friends, a group she called the Night-Blooming Cereus Club. Three years later, she left her job to become a full-time writer. In 1936, she published "The Death of a Traveling Salesman" in the literary magazine ''Manuscript'', and soon published stories in several other notable publications including '' The Sewanee Review'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. She strengthened her place as an influential Southern writer when she published her first book of short stories, '' A Curtain of Green''. Her new-found success won her a seat on the staff of '' The New York Times Book Review'', as well as a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

which enabled her to travel to France, England, Ireland, and Germany.House
". Eudora Welty Foundation. Retrieved November 28, 2011. While abroad, she spent some time as a resident lecturer at the universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, becoming the first woman to be permitted into the hall of Peterhouse College. In 1960, she returned home to Jackson to care for her elderly mother and two brothers. After

Medgar Evers Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and soldier who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. Evers, a United States Army veteran who served in World War II, was engaged in efforts ...

, field secretary of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

in Mississippi, was assassinated, she published a story in ''The New Yorker'', "Where Is the Voice Coming From?". She wrote it in the first person as the assassin. In 1971, she published a collection of her photographs depicting the Great Depression, titled ''One Time, One Place''. Two years later, she received the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

for her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter''. She lectured at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and eventually adapted her talks as a three-part memoir titled ''One Writer's Beginnings''. She continued to live in her family house in Jackson until her death from natural causes on July 23, 2001. She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson. Her headstone has a quote from ''The Optimist's Daughter'': "For her life, any life, she had to believe, was nothing but the continuity of its love." Throughout the 1970s, Welty carried on a lengthy correspondence with novelist Ross Macdonald, creator of the Lew Archer series of detective novels.

Photography

While Welty worked as a publicity agent for the

, she took photographs of people from all economic and social classes in her spare time. From the early 1930s, her photographs show Mississippi's rural poor and the effects of the Great Depression. Collections of her photographs were published as ''One Time, One Place'' (1971) and ''Photographs'' (1989). Her photography was the basis for several of her short stories, including " Why I Live at the P.O.", which was inspired by a woman she photographed ironing in the back of a small post office. Although focused on her writing, Welty continued to take photographs until the 1950s.

Writing career and major works

President Jimmy Carter presents the Medal of Freedom Award to Eudora Welty

Welty's first short story, "Death of a Traveling Salesman", was published in 1936. Her work attracted the attention of 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'', in 1941. The book established Welty as one of American literature's leading lights, and featured the stories "Why I Live at the P.O.", "Petrified Man", and the frequently anthologized " A Worn Path". Excited by the printing of Welty's works in publications such as '' The Atlantic Monthly'', the Junior League of Jackson, of which Welty was a member, requested permission from the publishers to reprint some of her works. She eventually published over forty short stories, five novels, three works of non-fiction, and one children's book. The short story "Why I Live at the P.O." was published in 1941, with two others, by ''The Atlantic Monthly''. It was republished later that year in Welty's first collection of short stories, ''A Curtain of Green''. The story is about Sister and how she becomes estranged from her family and ends up living at the post office where she works. Seen by critics as quality Southern literature, the story comically captures family relationships. Like most of her short stories, Welty masterfully captures Southern idiom and places importance on location and customs. "A Worn Path" was also published in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' and ''A Curtain of Green''. It is seen as one of Welty's finest short stories, winning the second-place O. Henry Award in 1941. Welty's debut novel, '' The Robber Bridegroom'' (1942), deviated from her previous psychologically inclined works, presenting static, fairy-tale characters. Some critics suggest that she worried about "encroaching on the turf of the male literary giant to the north of her in Oxford, Mississippi—William Faulkner", and therefore wrote in a fairy-tale style instead of a historical one. Most critics and readers saw it as a modern Southern fairy-tale and noted that it employs themes and characters reminiscent of the Grimm Brothers' works. Immediately after the murder of

in 1963, Welty wrote ''Where Is the Voice Coming From?''. As she later said, she wondered: "Whoever the murderer is, I know him: not his identity, but his coming about, in this time and place. That is, I ought to have learned by now, from here, what such a man, intent on such a deed, had going on in his mind. I wrote his story—my fiction—in the first person: about that character's point of view". Welty's story was published in ''The New Yorker'' soon after Byron De La Beckwith's arrest. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, ''The Optimist's Daughter'' (1972) is believed by some to be Welty's best novel. It was written at a much later date than the bulk of her work. As poet Howard Moss wrote in ''The New York Times'', the book is "a miracle of compression, the kind of book, small in scope but profound in its implications, that rewards a lifetime of work". The plot focuses on family struggles when the daughter and the second wife of a judge confront each other in the limited confines of a hospital room while the judge undergoes eye surgery. Welty gave a series of addresses at Harvard University, revised and published as ''One Writer's Beginnings'' (Harvard, 1983). It was the first book published by

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

to be a '' New York Times'' Best Seller (at least 32 weeks on the list), and runner-up for the 1984 National Book Award for Nonfiction."Welty Book is First Harvard U. Best Seller", Edwin McDowell, ''The New York Times'', March 13, 1984, page C16."Three Writers Win Book Awards", ''The New York Times'', November 16, 1984, page C32. In 1992, she was awarded the Rea Award for the Short Story for her lifetime contributions to the American short story. Welty was a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, founded in 1987. She also taught creative writing at colleges and in workshops. She lived near Jackson's Belhaven College and was a common sight among the people of her home town. Welty personally influenced several young Mississippi writers in their careers including Richard Ford, Ellen Gilchrist, and Elizabeth Spencer.

Literary criticism related to Welty's fiction

Welty was a prolific writer who created stories in multiple genres. Throughout her writing are the recurring themes of the paradox of human relationships, the importance of place (a recurring theme in most Southern writing), and the importance of mythological influences that help shape the theme. Welty said that her interest in the relationships between individuals and their communities stemmed from her natural abilities as an observer. Perhaps the best examples can be found within the short stories in ''A Curtain of Green''. "Why I Live at the P.O." comically illustrates the conflict between Sister and her immediate community, her family. This particular story uses lack of proper communication to highlight the underlying theme of the paradox of human connection. Another example is Miss Eckhart of ''The Golden Apples'', who is considered an outsider in her town. Welty shows that this piano teacher's independent lifestyle allows her to follow her passions, but also highlights Miss Eckhart's longing to start a family and to be seen by the community as someone who belongs in Morgana. Her stories are often characterized by the struggle to retain identity while keeping community relationships. Place is vitally important to Welty. She believed that place is what makes fiction seem real, because with place come customs, feelings, and associations. Place answers the questions, "What happened? Who's here? Who's coming?" Place is a prompt to memory; thus the human mind is what makes place significant. This is the job of the storyteller. “A Worn Path” is one short story that proves how place shapes how a story is perceived. Within the tale, the main character, Phoenix, must fight to overcome the barriers within the vividly described Southern landscape as she makes her trek to the nearest town. "The Wide Net" is another of Welty's short stories that uses place to define mood and plot. The river in the story is viewed differently by each character. Some see it as a food source, others see it as deadly, and some see it as a sign that "the outside world is full of endurance". Welty is noted for using mythology to connect her specific characters and locations to universal truths and themes. Examples can be found within the short story "A Worn Path", the novel '' Delta Wedding'', and the collection of short stories ''The Golden Apples''. In "A Worn Path", the character Phoenix has much in common with the mythical bird. Phoenixes are said to be red and gold and are known for their endurance and dignity. Phoenix, the old Black woman, is described as being clad in a red handkerchief with undertones of gold and is noble and enduring in her difficult quest for the medicine to save her grandson. In "Death of a Traveling Salesman", the husband is given characteristics common to

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

. He comes home after bringing fire to his boss and is full of male libido and physical strength. Welty also refers to the figure of Medusa, who in "Petrified Man" and other stories is used to represent powerful or vulgar women. Locations can also allude to mythology, as Welty proves in her novel ''Delta Wedding''. As Professor Veronica Makowsky from the University of Connecticut writes, the setting of the Mississippi Delta has "suggestions of the goddess of love,

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

-shells like that upon which Venus rose from the sea and female genitalia, as in the mound of Venus and Delta of Venus". The title ''The Golden Apples'' refers to the difference between people who seek silver apples and those who seek golden apples. It is drawn from W. B. Yeats' poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus", which ends "''The silver apples of the moon, The golden apples of the sun''". It also refers to myths of a golden apple being awarded after a contest. Welty used the symbol to illuminate the two types of attitudes her characters could take about life.

Honors

* 1941: O. Henry Award, second place, " A Worn Path" * 1942: O. Henry Award, first place, "The Wide Net" * 1943: O. Henry Award, first place, "Livvie is Back" * 1954: William Dean Howells medal for fiction, ''The Ponder Heart''Dawidoff, Nicholas. (August 10, 1995.)
At Home with Eudora Welty: Only the Typewriter Is Silent
. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved November 28, 2011. * 1968: O. Henry Award, first place, "The Demonstrators” * 1969: Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

* 1970: The Edward MacDowell Medal * 1973:

, '' The Optimist's Daughter''"Fiction"
''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-19. * 1979: Honorary Doctorate of Letters from

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in Urbana, Illinois * 1980:

* 1981: Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia * 1983:

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

for the first paperback edition of ''The Collected Works of Eudora Welty''"National Book Awards – 1983"
National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
(With essay by Robin Black from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) Welty's ''Collected Works'' won the 1983 award for paperback Fiction. From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Awards history there were dual hardcover and paperback awards in most categories. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints, including this one. * 1983: Invited by

to give the first annual Massey Lectures in the History of American Civilization, revised and published as ''One Writer's Beginnings'' * 1983:

St. Louis Literary Award The St. Louis Literary Award has been presented yearly since 1967 to a distinguished figure in literature. It is sponsored by the Saint Louis University Library Associates. Winners Past Recipients of the Award: *2025 Colson Whitehead *2024 J ...

from the

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

Library Associates * 1985: Honorary Doctorate of Letters from The College of William and Mary in Virginia * 1985: Achievement Award,

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances Justice, equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide Social net ...

* 1986:

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...

. * 1990: A recipient of the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, Lifetime Achievement, which was the state of Mississippi's recognition of her extraordinary contribution to American Letters. * 1991: National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters"Distinguished Contribution to American Letters"
National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
(With acceptance speech by Welty.)Marrs, p. 547 * 1991: Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. The Helmerich Award is presented annually by the Tulsa Library Trust. * 1992: Rea Award for the Short StoryMarrs, p. 549 * 1992: PEN/Malamud Award for the Short Story * 1992: National Humanities Medal * 1993: Charles Frankel Prize,

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

* 1993: Distinguished Alumni Award, American Association of State Colleges and Universities * 1996: Made a '' Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur'' by the French government * 1998: First living author to have her works published in the prestigious Library of America series * 2000: America Award for a lifetime contribution to international writing * 2000: Induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame

Commemoration

* In 1990, Steve Dorner named his e-mail program " Eudora", inspired by Welty's story "Why I Live at the P.O." Welty was reportedly "pleased and amused" by the tribute. * In 1973, the state of Mississippi established May 2 as "Eudora Welty Day". * Each October, Mississippi University for Women hosts the "Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium" to promote and celebrate the work of contemporary Southern writers. *

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

sculpture professor Critz Campbell has designed furniture inspired by Welty, that has been featured in '' Smithsonian'' magazine, ''The New York Times'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'' magazine, and on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. * A portrait of Eudora Welty hangs in the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian; it was painted by her friend Mildred Nungester Wolfe. *On September 10, 2018, Eudora Welty became the first author honored with a historical marker through the Mississippi Writers Trail. The historical marker was installed at the Eudora Welty House and Garden in Jackson, Mississippi.

Works

Short-story collections

* '' A Curtain of Green'', 1941 * ''The Wide Net and Other Stories'', 1943 * '' The Golden Apples'', 1949 * ''The Bride of the Innisfallen and Other Stories'', 1955 * ''Thirteen Stories'', 1965 * '' The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty'', 1980 * ''Moon Lake and Other Stories'', 1980 * ''Morgana: Two Stories from The Golden Apples'', 1988

Novels

* '' The Robber Bridegroom'' (novella), 1942 ** Musical based on the novella * '' Delta Wedding'', 1946 * '' The Ponder Heart'', 1954Adapted by Alice Parker into a two-act opera which premiered in Jackson, Mississippi in September 1982. The performance was reviewed by Edward Rothstein of The New York Times. * '' The Shoe Bird'' (juvenile), 1964 * '' Losing Battles'', 1970 * '' The Optimist's Daughter'', 1972

Essays

* ''The Eye of the Story'', 1979 * '' One Writer's Beginnings'', 1984 * ''On Writing'', 2002

Short stories

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* Ford, Richard, and Michael Kreyling, eds. ''Welty: Stories, Collections, & Memoir''. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1998. Print. * Makowsky, Veronica. ''Eudora Welty''. American Writers. Ed. Stephen Wagley. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. 343–356. Print. * Marrs, Suzanne. ''Eudora Welty: A Biography''. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc., 2005. Print. 50–52. * Welty, Eudora. ''The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1980. .

External links

* *

Resources

Eudora Welty Foundation

Eudora Welty Society Homepage
Includes resources on Welty and Southern literature.
Eudora Welty webpage at The Mississippi Writers Page
. Presented by the Department of English at the University of Mississippi.
Eudora Welty Small Manuscripts Collection (MUM00471)
Collection owned and maintained by the University of Mississippi Department of Archives and Special Collections.

Writings on

Fiction Writers Review on Eudora Welty's "Why I Live at the P.O."

1987 Whiting Writers' Award Keynote Speech
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welty, Eudora 1909 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women photographers 20th-century American women writers American women novelists American women short story writers Columbia Business School alumni Deaths from pneumonia in Mississippi Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Members of the Junior League Mississippi University for Women alumni National Book Award winners National Humanities Medal recipients Novelists from Mississippi O. Henry Award winners PEN/Malamud Award winners People of the New Deal arts projects Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Works Progress Administration workers Writers from Jackson, Mississippi Writers of American Southern literature Yaddo alumni