She began publishing short stories in the late 1930s, and later published a collection of short stories, followed by her first novel. Her short stories ranged from the comic to the frightening, while always managing to bring the reader into the lives of her characters. She managed to escape categorization and eventually worked her way into the pantheon of great American authors, likened at various times to writers such as Mark Twain and Anton Chekhov.

Acclaim for her writing, when it came, was great. In 1973 she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Optimist's Daughter; in 1987 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts; in 1996 she was awarded France's highest civilian honor, the Legion of Honor medal; and in 1999 she became the first living American writer included in the Library of America series. She was also awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award, the American Book Award, several O. Henry Awards, and in 1980 received the Medal of Freedom from President Jimmy Carter.

Outside of her writing, Welty became well-known for her photographs. Her last book, Country Churchyards, was a book of photographs taken while she worked for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.

Oddly enough, for one known by such a formal title, millions of people are familiar with her first name through the Eudora email program -- which was named after her by the developer, who is a fan of her writing.

Bookstores across the country will no doubt join in the grief and celebration of Welty's life and career. New readers will discover her sharp and evocative short stories and the intricately linked families of her novels. Her books will live on, as she will in our hearts, our memories.

One Writer's Beginnings
This writer's beginnings were quite different from most: was there ever such a bookish family? There's even a story about someone running into a burning house to save some books! Of course, back then there were fewer people, fewer writers, fewer books. This book will take you back to the early decades of the last century and entertain you with Welty's inimitable wit and humor.

Collected Stories
Welty is familiar as a short story writer to generations of American schoolchildren who are lucky enough to be introduced to her wonderful stories in textbooks and anthologies of American literature. Everyone who enjoys short stories should make sure this collection is within easy reach -- and should try and pass it on. To find quite so many gems within one set of covers is richness indeed.

The Robber Bridegroom
Welty surprised (and still surprises) many readers with her fantastical first novel. She took elements from myth and folklore, the underpinnings of an adventure novel, and produced an elegant, uproarious story. Owing as much to Mark Twain as to campfire storytellers across the world, this short novel will delight and entertain.

The Optimist's Daughter
Judge McKelva's daughter, Laurel, is shocked when her father tells her he is going to the hospital because of a "disturbance in his vision." He has always been a cheerful, lively man, and now, as he slowly fades away, Laurel has to confront his, and her own, mortality. She also has to confront her father's second wife, the brash Texan, Fay, and Fay's family, whose presence at the funeral is as noisy as it is unwelcome. There is some pure and beautiful writing in this 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, including a scene where Welty manages to make a bird trapped inside a house one of the scariest and most loaded scenes you will ever read.

Country Churchyards
Eudora Welty is one of the living legends of American literature, and it is interesting to see one of her other interests explored: In the 1930s and '40s, Welty worked for the Works Progress Administration photographing and writing about life in her home state of Mississippi. This is the third book of her photos, a beautiful and thought-provoking volume. It is a humbling and absorbing book; the 90 black-and-white photographs depict gravestones, urns, statues of angels, chapels, and landscapes of final serenity.