Ellen Gilchrist (born February 20, 1935) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer, and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

. She won a

National Book Award The National Book Awards 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. The Nat ...

for her 1984 collection of short stories, ''Victory Over Japan''.

Life

Gilchrist was born in

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vi ...

, and spent part of her childhood on a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

owned by her maternal grandparents. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and studied

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

under renowned writer

Eudora Welty 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 in 1973. Welty received numerou ...

Millsaps College Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webste ...

. Later in life, Gilchrist enrolled in the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas, but she never completed her MFA. Gilchrist has been married and divorced four times (two marriages and divorces were with the same man) and has three children, fourteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She lives in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington unt ...

, and

Ocean Springs, Mississippi Ocean Springs is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States, approximately east of Biloxi and west of Gautier. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 17,225 at the 2000 U.S. Census ...

. She was a professor of creative writing and contemporary fiction at the University of Arkansas.

Criticism

A success for the recently founded University of Arkansas Press, ''In the Land of Dreamy Dreams'' (1981) sold more than 10,000 copies in its first ten months and won immense critical acclaim. ''Victory over Japan'', a collection of short stories, won the U.S.

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

in 1984."National Book Awards – 1984"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
(With essays by Elinor Lipman and Terry Quinn from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) Gilchrist has also won awards for her poetry, although it is her short fiction for which she is most well-known. Gilchrist's stories are often praised for the characters that reappear regularly throughout her many volumes of short stories. Her latest book is ''A Dangerous Age'' (Algonquin, 2008). Gilchrist was heard regularly as a commentator on National Public Radio's

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...

from 1984 to 1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book ''Falling Through Space''.

Bibliography

Novels *''The Annunciation'' (1983) *''The Anna Papers'' (1988) *''Net of Jewels'' (1992) *''Starcarbon: A Meditation on Love'' (1994) *''Anabasis'' (1994) *''Sarah Conley'' (1997) *''A Dangerous Age'' (2008) Story collections *''In the Land of Dreamy Dreams'' (1981) *''Victory over Japan'' (1984) *''Drunk with Love'' (1986) *''Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle'' (1989) *''I Cannot Get You Close Enough: Three Novellas'' (1990) *The Age of Miracles (1995) *''Rhoda'' (1995) *''The Courts of Love'' (1996) *''Flights of Angels'' (1998) *''The Cabal'' (2000) *''Collected Stories'' (2000) *''I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting With My Daddy'' (2002) *''Nora Jane: A Life in Stories'' (2005) *''Acts of God'' (2014) Other *''The Land Surveyor's Daughter'' (poetry) (1979) *''Riding out the Tropical Depression: Selected Poems, 1975-1985'' (1986) *''Falling Through Space: The Journals of Ellen Gilchrist'' (1987) *''The Writing Life'' (2005)

References

External links

The Mississippi Writers Page: Ellen GilchristEncyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture: Ellen Gilchrist
from ''Millsaps Magazine''
Oprah's Book Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilchrist, Ellen 1935 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists American women short story writers National Book Award winners Novelists from Mississippi Writers from Arkansas University of Arkansas people People from Fayetteville, Arkansas 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers