Rebecca Wells (born February 3, 1953) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, actor, and playwright known for the ''Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' series, which includes the books '' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'', '' Little Altars Everywhere'', ''Ya-Yas in Bloom'', and ''The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder''.

Background

Wells was born and raised in

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River of the South, Red River in almost the ex ...

, where her family owned and ran a cotton farm. She attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

and, after graduating, the Naropa Institute in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, where she studied language and consciousness with

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Genera ...

and Choyyam Trungapa

Rinpoche Rinpoche, also spelled Rimboche and Rinboku (), is an honorific term used in the Tibetan language. It literally means "precious one", and may refer to a person, place, or thing—like the words "gem" or "jewel" (Sanskrit: '' Ratna''). The word c ...

, as well as acting, movement, and voice with members of The Living Theater. She then went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, where she studied the

Stanislavski Method Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing ...

of acting. In 1982 she moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington, making her home on

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County ...

. She currently lives in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

Writing career

Wells' first book, '' Little Altars Everywhere'', (1992) recounts the multi-layered saga of the turbulent Walker family in Thornton, Louisiana, from the 1960s to the present and introduces the characters Siddalee Walker, her mother Viviane, and her mother's best friends, the Ya-Yas, whose stories continue in Wells' other books. It won the

Western States Book Award Western States Book Award honored notable works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and translation written and published in the Western United States. The award was given annually from 1984 until 2002. Lifetime-achievement awards were also p ...

and became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. Her second novel, '' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' (1996) explores Siddalee's troubled relationship with her mother, and the deeper understanding she gains when her mother sends her the "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," a scrapbook chronicling the girlhood adventures of Vivi and her three best friends. A number one ''New York Times'' bestseller, it won the American Booksellers Award, and was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction (now known as the

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

). It was adapted for the 2002 film '' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' starring

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was the world's highest-paid actress in 2010 and 2014. In 2010 ...

as Siddalee Walker and

Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...

as her mother Vivi. Wells' third novel, ''Ya-Yas in Bloom'', (2005) reveals the roots of the friendship of the Ya-Ya sisterhood in the 1930s. ''Ya-Yas in Bloom'' reached the #3 spot on both the ''New York Times'' and ''Publishers Weekly'' bestseller lists Her fourth novel, ''The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder'', (2009) set in 1960s Louisiana, departs from the characters in Wells' other books, an introduces a new character, Calla Lily Ponder, and her friends.

Theater work

A playwright and actor before she began writing fiction, Wells is known for her one-woman show, ''Splittin' Hairs'', and her play, ''Gloria Duplex'', about a

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old S ...

erotic dancer who sees the face of God in a disco ball, which was called "one of the glories of the decade" by the

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

.''Know Southern History'
Rebecca Wells
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Novels

* '' Little Altars Everywhere'' (1992) * '' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' (1996)

Short stories

* '' Little Altars Everywhere'' (1992)

References

External links

*
Interview and audio clip
Official publisher web page
Blue Flower Arts - Author Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Rebecca 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Novelists from Louisiana Writers from Bainbridge Island, Washington 1953 births Living people 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Novelists from Washington (state)