Series 44: Interviews with Eudora Welty, Eudora Welty Collection (Z/0301)
Series 44: Interviews with Eudora Welty.
Dates: 1942–1999; n.d.
Size: 1.17 cubic ft.
This series consists of published and unpublished interviews, or sections thereof, with Eudora Welty. Although several items found in this series have been published in collections that specifically focus on interviews with Welty, many items in this series are not included in such compilations, are variants of, or overlap with content in published collections.
Topics discussed include different genres of music such as hymns, shape-note singing, and “old-time” songs; Welty’s photographs and awards; her short stories and novels; Welty’s relationship with William Maxwell (her fiction editor at the New Yorker; aspects of her writing process; and other topics. Two interviews (1973 and 1981) with Welty conducted by her long-time friend and former director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Charlotte Capers, pertain to Welty’s home on Pinehurst Street in Jackson, Mississippi.
Many items are drafts or photocopies of drafts, and include some edits in Welty’s hand. Several were published as fully transcribed interviews while others contain transcribed sections of an interview embedded in descriptive or biographical prose. Some appear in academic publications while others were authored by journalists. In some instances, the interviews are not complete. One sender, Welty scholar Noel Polk, proposed a book project around the many interviews, articles, and reviews he had assembled over time; that collection is housed in Box 446 and contains the oldest items in this series.
Note on Arrangement and Description:
The items in this series have been arranged in alphabetical order by the author/creator.
| Interviewer | Title/Publication | Box | Folder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bennett, Elizabeth. | “Genial, genuine Eudora Welty.” Published in the Sunday Punch section of The Houston Post, 1 December 1991, p. C5. 3 pieces. This first article, a side column, provides an introduction to Bennet’s primary interview with Welty found in another section of that day’s newspaper. The second article, “At home with Eudora Welty,” appeared in the Sunday Style section of the same edition, pp. 1 and 7. It discusses the Eudora Welty Public Library; reissues by her publisher of some of Welty’s previous collections; dialect; Welty’s National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters; Welty’s personal life and family; One Writer’s Beginnings; and other topics. | 445 | 1 |
| Bruning, Fred. | "Sincerely, Eudora; An Afternoon With Eudora Welty, Grande Dame of American Letters, Is An Exercise in Humility.” 1992. 10 pieces. This folder also includes a short note with the envelope thanking Welty for the interview. The article was published in the City Living section of New York Newsday, 2 January 1992: pp. 48-49. | 445 | 2 |
| Capers, Charlotte. | Untitled interview dated 8 May 1973 and another titled, “An Interview with Eudora Welty by Charlotte Capers,” dated 16 May 1981. 54 pieces. Both interviews focus on the history of the Welty home on Pinehurst Street including how Welty and her family lived, socialized, and worked in the home and garden. There are two copies of the 1973 interview, but only one shows some edits in Welty’s hand. The 1981 interview contains no markings. | 444 | 1 |
| Cooks, Ristin, T. | “Prose About People.” 1988. 3 pieces. This piece was published in "The Phoenix Student Newsweekly.” UNC-CH Student Magazine, 20 October 1988, Vol. 13, Issue 11, p. 4. It discusses Welty’s fiction with some biographical content. | 444 | 2 |
| Devlin, Albert and Peggy Prenshaw. | Incomplete galleys for “A Conversation with Eudora Welty” with extensive editorial and interviewer revisions. 1986. 8 pieces. This folder contains one original item now distributed into three folders for preservation purposes. The interview was originally published in the Mississippi Quarterly, 39 (Fall 1986), 431-54. | 444 | 3a-c |
| Faulk, Charles. | “Mississippi’s Own… Eudora Welty.” This article was published in the Vicksburg Sunday Post, 5 September 1982; 3 pieces. The folder includes two copies of this full-page article primarily discussing Welty’s photography. The article includes unusually large reprints of several Welty photographs. This folder also includes a short memo to Welty dated 6 September 1982 expressing Faulk’s thanks for the interview. | 445 | 3 |
| Foerstner, Abigail. | “Pulitzer and plaudits aside, they’re forever Eudora Welty’s ‘snapshots.’” 1992. 3 pieces. This article appeared in the 12 June 1992 edition of the Chicago Tribune, Photography section, pp. 67-68. The interview probably took place in May when Welty was at the University of Chicago to discuss her photography. A thank you card to Welty for the interview is also included. | 444 | 4 |
| Grelen, Jay. | “Author always looks ahead.” [n.d.]. 2 pieces. This column is largely biographical and mentions Welty’s attainment of the French honor of the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur. Newspaper unknown. | 444 | 5 |
| Gretlund, Jan Nordby | “Seeing the Real Things: An interview with Eudora Welty.” 20 May, 1993. 32 pieces. Published in Eudora Welty’s Aesthetics of Place. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1994, pp. 401-24. In addition to a typescript copy of the interview, this folder also includes a letter from Gretlund dated 23 July, 1993 and the mailing envelope. | 444 | 6 |
| Heitman, Danny. | “Eudora Welty, South’s most famous living writer recalls days as fledgling critic.” 1994. 10 pieces. This interview was published in the Sunday Advocate Magazine, (Baton Rouge) on 21 July 1994, pp. 16-18. Also included is a letter from Heitman apologizing for his delay in getting the published piece to Welty. Note: page 15 has a separate article by Sarah Sue Goldsmith under the “Readings and Writings” column entitled, “Growing to appreciate Eudora Welty.” | 445 | 2 |
| Ketchin, Susan, and Clyde Edgerton. | “Eudora Welty—Music of Her Childhood.” This transcript is based on two interviews conducted in June of 1995 and February of 1996. 26 pieces. Also included is a one page letter from Ketchin dated 19 December 1996 and a draft of an introduction to the transcription. The interview transcript contains a few edits in Welty’s hand. It covers many kinds of musical genres including ‘old-time,’ shape note, and hymns; Welty’s photographs and the cameras she used; the Old Capitol building; and several of Welty’s short stories. Ketchin held the Eudora Welty Chair of Southern Studies at Millsaps College in 1994. | 444 | 7 |
| Ketchin, Susan. | “Eudora Welty, Music of her Childhood.” 1995 and 1996. 18 pieces. This transcription appears to be an earlier version of the interview in the preceding folder (6). It contains no edits but otherwise appears to be identical. | 444 | 8 |
| Markus, Kurt. | Galley of, “Eudora Welty, A Conversation with Kurt Markus.” 1993.10 pieces; 4 pieces. The first folder contains one (1) letter to Welty and one (1) memo to Tim Seldes (Welty’s literary agent at the time), from Dana Williams, the senior editor of American Way magazine, an inflight publication of American Airlines. Also included is the galley of an interview between Markus and Welty. Williams asks Seldes to transmit the galley to Welty for her final approval. The galley shows very few edits. The second folder (9) contains an incomplete copy of the galley in published form; the article appeared in the 1 December 1993 issue of American Way magazine. 4 pieces. Topics discussed include travel, Welty’s photographs, the relationship between writing and photography, journalism, and other subjects. The last page of the interview is missing. Also included in this folder is p. 13 of an early transcript draft with edits in Welty’s hand. It appears to be a variant of p. 6 in the previous folder (8). | 444 | 9 and 10 |
| Polk, Noel. | This box contains a compilation of interviews with Welty collected by Polk in various formats. [1942-1978; n.d.]. 3 pieces; 136 pieces. There are two letters from Polk in the first folder on University of Southern Mississippi stationary preceding the packet of photocopies in the second folder (2). One letter is dated 12 March 1978 and the second is undated. In the latter, Polk proposes a possible publication of these materials and suggests either he or Welty might write the Introduction. Also included in this folder is a photocopy of the information on the original mailing envelope. | 446 | 1 and 2 |
| Sand, Michael. | This folder contains an incomplete edited draft apparently for Aperture magazine of, “Interview With Eudora Welty.” [n.d.]. 6 pieces. Sand is a photographer and contributor to Aperture magazine. The draft is preceded by a letter from Sand to Welty asking for her comments. There are some edits in Welty’s hand. The primary topic is her photography. Sand is also listed in Series 29b, Select Correspondence. | 444 | 11 |
| Sanoff, Alvin. | “I know I can never get it perfect,” published in the 18 August 1986 issue of U.S. News and World Report. This one-page interview discusses Welty’s writing process. 1 piece. | 444 | 12 |
| Skube, Michael. | “A Conversation With Eudora Welty,” published in the Arts section of the Atlanta Journal/The Atlantic Constitution, 17 March 1996, p. L12. 2 pieces (two copies of the same article). | 445 | 4 |
| Streitfeld, David. | “Eudora Welty, In Her Own Words; The Southern Writer To Be Honored,” by David Streitfeld in the [4 December 1992] edition of the Washington Post. This interview discusses Welty receiving the PEN/Malamud Award in 1992. 3 pieces. | 444 | 13 |
| Taylor, Virginia Ross, and Sally Wolff. | “Eudora Welty on William Maxwell.” [1996]. 10 pieces; 1 item. The first folder contains a preliminary page from Virginia Ross Taylor, PhD, with questions on Wolff’s draft of her interview with Welty. The first page is heavily notated by the interviewers though there are few additional edits in the transcript proper. Taylor and Wolff were co-authors of the final published article in the second folder (14). Taylor interviewed William Maxwell in NYC and Wolff interviewed Welty in her Jackson home. Both interviews were conducted in 1996. The second folder (14) contains a copy of the South Atlantic Review issue in which “Conversations with Eudora Welty and William Maxwell” was published (Spring, 1999). 1 item. See the South Atlantic Review, Vol. 64, No. 2: 128-145. | 444 | 14 and 15 |
| Tyndall, Kate. | “LifeSize.” 1987. 1 piece. This folder contains a draft of the article by this UPI journalist on Welty’s designation as a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Letters by the French government. The paper is fragile; please handle carefully. | 444 | 16 |
| Waddington, Chris. | “Welty on life through the lens.” 1992. 4 pieces. Arts writer Waddington includes sends a letter dated 24 December 1992 to Welty thanking her for the recent interview and enclosed a copy of it in published form. The interview was published in the “Lagniappe Entertainment Guide,” of The Times-Picayune on 18 December 1992, and discusses an exhibit of Welty’s photographs at A Gallery for Fine Photography on Royal Street in New Orleans. | 445 | 4 |
| Wolff, Sally. | “The Domestic Thread of Revelation: An interview with Eudora Welty.” 1994. 1 item; 25 pieces. The first folder contains a copy of the Southern Literary Journal in which the article was published (Fall, 1994; Vol. XXVII, No. 1: 18-24.) The second folder (17) contains five photocopies of this same article on pp. 18-24; 25 pieces. | 444 | 17 and 18 |
| Wolff, Sally. | Draft of “Eudora Welty: on Love, the War, Death by Drowning, and Good Country People.” [1989 and 1993]. 10 pieces; 10 pieces. The draft in the first folder is a combination of two conversations with Welty and contains a few edits in Welty’s hand. The focus is on the Optimist’s Daughter but other stories are also mentioned, as are the importance of newspapers and journalism. The original 1989 interview may have taken place at Emory University. The second folder (19) contains a clean copy of the draft in folder 18. . | 444 | 19 and 20 |
| Yates, Gayle Graham. | This folder contains a draft of “Eudora Welty’s Mississippi and Her Fiction.” 1985. 42 pieces. (There are two copies of page 27.) The draft contains edits by Welty. Topics discussed include One Writer’s Beginnings, Losing Battles, “Livvie,” The Robber Bridegroom, and The Golden Apples. This interview was later published as “My Visit with Eudora Welty” in Graham’s Mississippi Mind: A Personal Cultural History of an American State, (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1990), 141-59. | 444 | 21 |