Flannery O’Connor is best known for her short stories and novels, including A Good Man is Hard to Find, published in 1955.

Flannery was born to Catholic parents in Savannah, Georgia in 1925, and became an avid reader at an early age.  The O’Connor Family moved to Milledgeville when Flannery was in high school. Shortly after their move, her father passed away. Flannery completed her education and enrolled at Georgia State College for Women.

Flannery went on to receive a master’s degree from the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop and was awarded a residency at Yaddo. Through the influence of mentors who recognized her unique writing style, she began publishing short stories and novels.

In the early1950s, Flannery developed Lupus, the same disease that took her father.  She returned to Milledgeville to live with her mother at Andalusia, the family farm, where Flannery wrote and cared for her flock of peacocks until she passed away. She was only 39 years old.

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Awards

  • Rinehart-Iowa Fiction Award (1947)
  • Three O’Henry Awards for Short Fiction (1957, 1963, and 1965)
  • Honorary Doctorate in Literature from Smith College and St. Mary’s College
  • Henry Bellamann Foundation Award (1963)
  • Nominated for the National Book Award (1966)
  • National Book Award for Fiction (posthumously) (1972)

Resources

  • The Habit of Being edited by Sally Fitzgerald (1979)
  • Conversations with Flannery O’Connor edited by Rosemary M. Magee (1986)
  • Flannery O’Connor: Images of Grace by Douglas Gilbert and Harold Fickett (1986)
  • O’Connor: Collected Works edited by Sally Fitzgerald (1988)

Works

Novels

  • Wise Blood (1952)
  • The Violent Bear in Away (1960)

Short Fiction

  • A Stroke of Good Fortune (1949)
  • A Late Encounter with the Enemy (1952)
  • A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1953)
  • The Life You Save May Be Your Own (1953)
  • The River (1953)
  • A Circle in the Fire (1954)
  • A Temple of the Holy Ghost (1954)
  • The Displaced Person (1954)
  • The Artificial Nigger (1955)
  • Good Country People (1955)
  • The Comforts of Home (1960)
  • Revelation (1964)
  • Judgement Day (1965)

Essays

  • From Letters, 1954-55 (2011)
  • Reasonable Use of the Unreasonable (2011)
  • Writing Short Stories (2011)

Collections

  • A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories (1955)
  • Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965)
  • The Complete Stories (1971)

Amanda Vining photo

Amanda holds a BS in Biology from Georgia College & State University. She began her career as an educator with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. After leaving the DNR, Amanda became a formal educator with Baldwin County School System and Jasper County School System. Amanda began her museum career at the Museum of Arts and Sciences (MAS) in Macon, Georgia, where she served as Curator of Environmental Science
(2011-2020). While at MAS, Amanda developed a love for sharing the world around us with the many students who visited on school field trips. During her time as Curator of Environmental Science, Amanda launched a storytime
program for preschool children.

Since 2020, Amanda has been serving Georgia Writers Museum as a volunteer on the Education Committee. Amanda has brought her love of sharing stories with students by launching Peaches’ Reading Pasture. As Museum Manager, Amanda looks forward to serving the community and helping to inspire those within our community to put words to paper and share their stories.

Amanda was born and raised in nearby Shady Dale, Georgia. Her husband, Rodney, is a native of Eatonton, and they currently reside in Putnam County. They have three children.