Who is Flannery O'Connor?

Flannery O'Connor is a writer from Georgia who lived from 1925 to 1964. She was known for her Southern Gothic-style fiction, which was reminiscent of Eudora Welty and Carson McCullers. Though her career was short, ended by her untimely death from lupus, she is remembered today for her powerful literary works, including her masterful short stories and her two novels, Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away. Mary Flannery O'Connor, who went by her middle name, was an only child in a deeply religious Roman Catholic family. Her father died of lupus when she was in her teens. Flannery O'Connor attended college at what is now Georgia College & State University, and went on to obtain a master of fine arts in creative writing from the famous Iowa Writers Workshop. Robert Fitzgerald, a famous poet and translator, served as a friend and mentor to her; she stayed with him and his wife in their house for a period of time. Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor's first novel, was published in its entirety ...  more