Flannery's body of work was small, consisting of only two novels, 31 short stories and a few lectures and speeches. But her words were among some of the most powerful, and haunting, ever written.
She was born in Savannah, Georgia, in March of 1945, the only child of a Catholic family. The region was part of the "Christ-haunted" Bible Belt, and the spiritual heritage profoundly influenced Flannery's writing. Her father was a realtor and later worked for a construcion company as a developer. Her mother stayed home most of the time to give Flannery the best life possible.
When Flannery was 12, her family moved to Milledgeville, Georgia. Here, she finished school and enrolled in the Georgia State College for Women. Flannery was a bright student and was enrolled in the accelerated three-year program. She was also a member of the yearbook and newspaper staffs, and editor of the literary magazine.
After Flannery graduated in 1945 with a B.A. in Social Sciences, she decided to further her education. She enrolled at the University of Iowa, where she began attending writer's workshops. She published her first story at the age of 21. After only a yeaar at the university, she received a Masters of Fine Arts in Literature. Once she had received her Masters, Flannery moved to New York and published the first four chapters of Wise Blood in different magazines. The complete novel didn't appear until 1952.
Flannery suffered her first bout with lupus, the debilitating blood disease that had killed her father, in December 1950. The disease forced her to move back in with her mother in Georgia, but it did not stop her writing. Her short stories are considered her best work. The short stories are not as theologically based as her novels; instead they focus on misfit characters and recurrent themes of superiority and isolation.
She continued to write and occasionally lecture on creative writing until she died in August of 1964.
Flannery O'Connor was 39.
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