Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor | |
|---|---|
Flannery O'Connor in 1947 | |
| Born | Mary Flannery O'Connor March 25, 1925 |
| Died | August 3, 1964 (aged 39) |
| Resting place | Memory Hill Cemetery, Milledgeville, Georgia |
| Occupation |
|
| Period | 1946–1964 |
| Genre | Southern Gothic |
| Subject |
|
| Literary movement | Christian realism |
| Notable works | |
Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She wrote two novels and 31 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries.
O'Connor was a Southern writer who often wrote in a sardonic Southern Gothic style. She relied heavily on regional settings and grotesque characters, often in violent situations. In her writing, an unsentimental acceptance or rejection of the limitations, imperfections or differences of these characters (whether attributed to disability, race, crime, religion, or sanity) typically underpins the drama.
O'Connor's writing often reflects her Catholic faith, and frequently examines questions of morality and ethics. In her own words, "[a]ll my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless, brutal, etc." Her posthumously compiled Complete Stories won the 1972 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and has been the subject of enduring praise.