Elizabeth Spencer (writer) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elizabeth Spencer
Born	19 July 1921  Carrollton
Died	22 December 2019  (aged 98) Chapel Hill
Alma mater	Belhaven University Vanderbilt University
Occupation	Writer, novelist, short story writer
Employer	Concordia University University of Mississippi University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Awards	Guggenheim Fellowship (1953) North Carolina Award for Literature (1994)
Website	http://www.elizabethspencerwriter.com

Elizabeth Spencer (July 19, 1921 – December 22, 2019) was an important American writer. She wrote many books, including nine novels and seven collections of short stories. Her first novel, Fire in the Morning, came out in 1948.

One of her most famous works is the story The Light in the Piazza (1960). It was made into a movie in 1962 and later a Broadway musical in 2005. Elizabeth Spencer also won the O. Henry Award for short stories five times.

Her stories often explored how people fit in with their families and communities. She wrote about how these connections can both help and limit a person's identity. She especially focused on the inner lives of her female characters. Many of them tried to build fulfilling lives even when society had strict rules.

Elizabeth Spencer's Early Life and Education

Elizabeth Spencer was born in Carrollton, Mississippi. She was a very bright student and was the top of her class in high school.

She went on to earn her bachelor's degree at Belhaven College in Mississippi. Then, she got her master's degree in literature from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee in 1943. At Vanderbilt, she studied with a famous poet named Donald Davidson.

Her Journey as a Writer and Teacher

After college, Elizabeth Spencer taught at a junior college in Mississippi for two years. She then worked for a newspaper, the Nashville Tennessean. However, she soon returned to teaching, this time at the University of Mississippi.

In 1953, she received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellowship. This award allowed her to leave Mississippi and live in Italy. She used this time to focus completely on her writing.

Her third novel, The Voice at the Back Door, was started while she was in Florence, Italy. This book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1957.

For a while, some people thought of Spencer only as a "Southern woman" writer. But in 1981, she published her collected short stories. A famous writer named Eudora Welty wrote the introduction. This helped critics see her work in a new light and recognize her important contributions to literature.

Her Personal Life and Later Years

While living in Italy, Elizabeth Spencer met and married John Rusher. He was from England. In 1956, they moved to Montreal, Quebec, in Canada. They lived there until 1986, when they moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Spencer taught creative writing at Concordia University in Montreal. Later, she taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until she retired. Her husband, John Rusher, passed away in 1998. Elizabeth Spencer continued to live in her home in Chapel Hill until her death on December 22, 2019.

Interestingly, Elizabeth Spencer was a cousin of the United States senator John McCain. This connection was through her mother's family.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Elizabeth Spencer received many awards and honors throughout her long career. These awards recognized her talent and contributions to literature.

Some of her notable awards include:

• Sidney Lanier Prize for Southern Literature (2014)
• Lifetime Achievement Award of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters (2009)
• PEN/Malamud Award for Short Fiction (2007)
• Governor's Award for Achievement in Literature from the Mississippi Arts Commission (2006)
• The William Faulkner Medal for Literary Excellence (2002)
• Inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame (2002)
• Thomas Wolfe Award for Literature (2002)
• Cleanth Brooks Medal for achievement (2001)
• Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award for fiction (1997)
• J. William Corrington Award for fiction (1997)
• North Carolina Governor's Award for Literature (1994)
• John Dos Passos Award for Literature (1992)
• Election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1985)
• Award of Merit Medal for the Short Story, American Academy (1983)
• Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (1953)
• Mississippi Writers Trail historical marker (2019)

Elizabeth Spencer's Published Works

Elizabeth Spencer wrote many different types of books. Here are some of her most well-known works:

Novels

• Fire in the Morning (1948)
• This Crooked Way (1952)
• The Voice at the Back Door (1956)
• Knights and Dragons (1965)
• No Place for an Angel (1967)
• The Snare (1972)
• The Salt Line (1984)
• The Night Travellers (1991)

Short Story Collections

• Ship Island and Other Stories (1968)
• The Stories of Elizabeth Spencer (1981)
• Marilee: Three Stories (1981)
• Jack of Diamonds and Other Stories (1988)
• On the Gulf (1991)
• The Light in the Piazza and Other Italian Tales (1960)
• The Southern Woman (2001)
• Starting Over (2014)

Memoir

• Landscapes of the Heart: A Memoir (1997)

Play

• For Lease or Sale (1989)