“I
never thought it was unusual to write, and I've been writing or pretending to
write since before I even started school.” – Ellen Gilchrist
Born in Mississippi on this date in
1935, Gilchrist “formally” got into writing in the 1970s and has been a successful
novelist, short story writer and poet since, winning the National Book Award
for her collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan. Gilchrist also has won awards for her poetry,
although it is her short fiction for which she is most well-known.
After studying creative writing
under renowned writer Eudora Welty at Millsaps College (where she earned her
bachelor’s degree), Gilchrist also studied for a time in the creative writing
program at the University of Arkansas. 
Her distinctive, wit-fueled tales have
focused on women of the South and the small communities in which she
has lived (she currently resides in Arkansas).
“I have lived most of my life in small towns,” she said, “and I'm in the
habit of knowing and talking to everyone.”
Critics often praise her character development, and many of her
characters reappear throughout her short story collections (13 to date).
Her distinctive, wit-fueled tales have
focused on women of the South and the small communities in which she
has lived (she currently resides in Arkansas).
“I have lived most of my life in small towns,” she said, “and I'm in the
habit of knowing and talking to everyone.”
Critics often praise her character development, and many of her
characters reappear throughout her short story collections (13 to date). While she advocates keeping journals or “records” of things to aid in writing, she said her own technique is more unorthodox. “Ever since I was a child, I've kept boxes and drawers and pages of things that I liked. I suppose that constitutes a journal of sorts, but it's not in a ledger or a notebook.”
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