Eudora Welty

EW published five novels or novellas, as well as essays, memoirs, poetry, and a book for children, but her short stories are her most admired works. Her work spans the last forty years of the twentieth century. She stands out among white writers from the southern USA in her fictional engagement with the lives and the voices of black people, but her reputation short-changes her in one way. She is often remembered as quirky, humorous, and soft-centred, whereas in fact her rendering of the lives of poor people of both races has a marked political edge.