Doris Betts facts for kids

Doris Betts (born June 4, 1932 – died April 21, 2012) was a famous American writer. She wrote many short stories and novels. She was also a respected professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Doris Betts wrote three collections of short stories and six novels during her career.

Her Life and Career

Doris Betts was born in Statesville, North Carolina in 1932. She was the only child of Mary Ellen and William Elmore. In 1950, she finished high school in Statesville. Then, she went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. While in college, she married Lowry Betts. He was studying law and later became a judge in North Carolina. They had three children together.

In 1953, when she was in her second year of college, Doris won a writing contest. It was the Mademoiselle College Fiction contest. Her winning story was called "Mr. Shawn and Father Scott."

After college, Doris Betts worked as a newspaper reporter for several years. In 1966, she joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She won many awards for her writing and teaching.

• In 1954, she received the UNC Putnam Book Prize for her first book, The Gentle Insurrection.
• She won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award three times (1958, 1965, and 1973). This award is for the best fiction books by a North Carolina writer.
• She also received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Writing (1958–1959).
• In 1975, she got the North Carolina Award and Medal.
• She earned the Distinguished Service Award for Women.
• She also received the John Dos Passos Award.

Doris Betts wrote articles for professional journals. She also gave talks at writing conferences and on college campuses. In 1980, she became a special English professor at UNC. She won awards for her excellent teaching in 1973 and 1980.

One of her most famous short stories was "The Ugliest Pilgrim." A film called Violet was made from this story in 1981. This film won an award at the 54th Academy Awards. Later, in 1998, a musical also named Violet was created based on the story. The musical won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.

When Doris Betts retired from teaching, a special writing position was created in her honor. It was called the Doris Betts Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing. She also served as the Chancellor of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

In 1998, another one of her short stories, "This is the Only Time I'll Tell It," was made into a short film. Doris Betts attended the film's first showing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Doris Betts passed away at her home in Pittsboro, North Carolina on April 21, 2012. She was 79 years old.

Awards

• G.P. Putnam-U.N.C. Booklength Fiction prize, 1954
• Sir Walter Raleigh Best Fiction by Carolinian award, 1957, for Tall Houses in Winter
• Sir Walter Raleigh Best Fiction by Carolinian award, 1965, for Scarlet Thread
• Guggenheim Fellow, 1958
• North Carolina Medal for literature, 1975
• Parker award for literary achievement, 1982–1985
• John dos Passos award, 1983
• American Academy of Arts and Letters Medal of Merit for short story, 1989
• Academy Award for Violet

Books

Short story collections

• The Gentle Insurrection (1954)
• The Astronomer and Other Stories (1966)
• Beasts of the Southern Wild and Other Stories (1973)

Novels

• Tall Houses in Winter (1957)
• The Scarlet Thread (1965)
• The River to Pickle Beach (1972)
• Heading West: A Novel (1981)
• Souls Raised from the Dead (1994)
• The Sharp Teeth of Love (1998)