''One Writer's Beginnings'' is a collection of autobiographical essays by

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 ...

. The book is based on three lectures she delivered 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 ...

in April 1983, as part of the William E. Massey Sr. lecture series. The three essays are entitled: ''Listening'', ''Learning to See'', and ''Finding a Voice.'' Well received by both critics and fans alike, ''One Writer's Beginnings'' was on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestseller list for almost a year. In the essays, Ms. Welty explains the inescapable bond between her childhood in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and her later career as a writer. She shares details from her childhood and her relationship with her parents, Christian Welty and Chestina Andrews Welty. She discusses how these two critical relationships, and other relationships from her childhood, contributed to her literary voice. The book has been praised as revealing "the confluence of past and present as the design of Welty's life and art by making such intersection the structural principle behind her life story as an artist."Ciuba, Gary M. ''Time as Confluence: Self and Structure in Welty's'' One Writer's Beginnings. The Southern Literary Journal 26 (1993), p. 78. The book includes a number of Welty family photos. The lectures were published in book form 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 ...

in 1984.

References

External links

''Eudora Welty: One Writer's Beginnings''
1989 PBS profile of Eudora Welty, based on her book of the same name. {{Eudora Welty Literary autobiographies 1984 non-fiction books Harvard University Press books Works by Eudora Welty