About
Carson McCullers, born Lula Carson Smith in Columbus, Georgia, is a major figure of Southern American literature. She studied piano from childhood and took writing courses at Columbia University. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), made her famous at age 23. She explored loneliness, isolation, and the grotesque in works such as Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941) and The Ballad of the Sad Café (1951). She adapted her novella The Member of the Wedding for the stage, winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1950. She received two Guggenheim Fellowships (1942, 1946) and died in Nyack, New York, in 1967.
* 1917-02-19 — † 1967-09-28
Major works
- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940)novel
- Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941)novel
- The Member of the Wedding (1946)novel
- The Ballad of the Sad Café (1951)short story collection
- Clock Without Hands (1961)novel
Key milestones
- 1942Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.
- 1946Awarded a second Guggenheim Fellowship.
- 1950Her play The Member of the Wedding wins the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.
Themes
LonelinessIsolationThe grotesqueUnrequited loveSouthern United States
Sources: catdir.loc.gov · gf.org · columbusstate.edu