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{{short description|American novelist}}
⚫
'''Ellen Douglas''' is the [[pen name]] of '''Josephine Ayres Haxton''' (born July 12, 1921), an [[United States|American author]].<ref name="paterson1988">Paterson, Judith (July 10, 1988). [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73617803.html?dids=73617803:73617803&FMT=ABS Southern Discomforts.] ''[[Washington Post]]''</ref> Her book ''Apostles of Light'' was a [[National Book Award]] nominee.


{{Infobox writer
She was born in [[Natchez, Mississippi]] and grew up in Louisiana and Arkansas. She graduated from the [[University of Mississippi]] in 1942.<ref name="ap2008">Associated Press (June 9, 2008). [http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-06-09-ellen-douglas_N.htm Author Ellen Douglas to be honored.] ''[[USA Today]]''</ref>
| name = Ellen Douglas
| image =
| birth_name = Josephine Ayres Haxton
| birth_date = July 12, 1921
| birth_place = Natchez, Mississippi
| death_date = November 7, 2012
| nationality = American
⚫
| alma_mater = University of Mississippi
⚫
| notableworks = ''A Family's Affairs'' (1961)
''Black Cloud, White Cloud'' (1963)
''Apostles of Light'' (1973)
''The Rock Cried Out'' (1979)
| children = Ayres Haxton, Brooks Haxton, Richard Haxton<ref name="auto1"/>
| awards =
}}

⚫
'''Ellen Douglas''' was the [[pen name]] of '''Josephine Ayres Haxton''' (July 12, 1921&nbsp;– November 7, 2012), an [[United States|American]] author.<ref name="paterson1988">{{cite news |author=Judith Paterson |date=July 10, 1988 |title=Southern Discomforts |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1988/07/10/southern-discomforts/9ddc119b-2a5f-42cd-b56f-d64cccb06412/}}</ref> Her 1973 novel ''Apostles of Light'' was a [[National Book Award]] nominee.

==Biography==

Douglas was born in [[Natchez, Mississippi]], and grew up in [[Hope, Arkansas]], and [[Alexandria, Louisiana]]. She graduated from the [[University of Mississippi]] in 1942 and later settled in [[Greenville, Mississippi]] with her husband Kenneth Haxton.<ref name="ap2008">Associated Press (June 9, 2008). [https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-06-09-ellen-douglas_N.htm "Author Ellen Douglas to be honored"]. ''[[USA Today]]''</ref> She had three sons with Haxton: Richard, Ayres, and [[Brooks Haxton]],<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2012/11/07/mississippi-author-ellen-douglas-dies-at-91/1690911/|title=Ellen Douglas, Mississippi author, dies at 91|website=USA TODAY}}</ref> the latter a notable, award-winning poet and writer.

Douglas taught writing at [[University of Mississippi|Ole' Miss]], where she was writer-in-residence from 1979 to 1983.<ref name="auto"/> One of her creative writing students was [[Larry Brown (writer)|Larry Brown]], a local Oxford firefighter who went on to publish many acclaimed works of fiction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/ellen_douglas.htm|title=Ellen Douglas, 1921-2012|website=www.douglashistory.co.uk}}</ref>

She adopted the pen name Ellen Douglas before the publication of ''A Family’s Affairs'' to protect the privacy of two aunts, on whose lives she had based much of the plot.<ref name="NYTobit">{{cite news |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201000000*/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/arts/ellen-douglas-southern-novelist-dies-at-91.html |title=Ellen Douglas, Novelist of Southern Life, Dies at 91|date=November 12, 2012|accessdate=July 8, 2015|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Douglas died of heart failure at the age of 91 on November 7, 2012.<ref name="NYTobit"/>

Margalit Fox writes that Douglas's work "explored the epochal divide between the Old South and the New, examining vast, difficult subjects — race relations, tensions between the sexes, the conflict between the needs of the individual and those of the community — through the small, clear prism of domestic life."<ref name="NYTobit"/>


==Selected bibliography==
==Selected bibliography==
===Novels and stories===
⚫
* ''A Family's Affairs'' (1961)
* ''[[A Family's Affairs (novel)|A Family's Affairs]]'' (1961)
* ''Black Cloud, White Cloud: Two Novellas and Two Stories'' (1963)
* ''Black Cloud, White Cloud: Two Novellas and Two Stories'' (1963)
* "On the Lake," in ''Prize Stories 1963'' (1963)
* "On the Lake", in ''Prize Stories 1963'' (1963)
* ''Where The Dreams Cross (1968)
* ''Where The Dreams Cross'' (1968)
* ''Apostles of Light'' (1973)
* ''Apostles of Light'' (Houghton Mifflin 1973)
* ''The Rock Cried Out'' (1979)
* ''The Rock Cried Out'' (1979)
* ''A Lifetime Burning'' (1982)
* ''A Lifetime Burning'' (Random House 1982)
* ''A Long Night'' (1986)
* ''A Long Night'' (1986)
* ''The Magic Carpet and Other Tales'' (1987)
* ''The Magic Carpet and Other Tales'' (1987)
* ''Can't Quit You, Baby'' (1988)
* ''Can't Quit You, Baby'' (Scribners 1988)

⚫
* ''Truth: Four Stories I Am Finally Old Enough to Tell'' (1998)
===Nonfiction===
⚫
* ''Witnessing'' (2004) University Press of Mississippi
⚫
* ''Truth: Four Stories I Am Finally Old Enough to Tell'' (Algonquin Books 1998) {{ISBN|978-1-565-12214-7}}
* ''Witnessing'' (University Press of Mississippi 2004) {{ISBN|978-1-578-06670-4}}

==Awards and recognition==

*"On the Lake", one of Douglas's short stories, was included in the O. Henry collection in 1961.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-writers/ellen-douglas?cn-reloaded=1|title=Ellen Douglas, Mississippi author|website=www.mswritersandmusicians.com}}</ref>

*''A Family's Affairs'' was awarded the Houghton Mifflin fellowship in 1961 and was recognized as one of the five best novels of the year by ''The New York Times''.<ref name="auto1"/>

*''Black Cloud, White Cloud'' was named one of the five best works of fiction by ''The New York Times'' in 1963.

*''Apostles of Light'' was nominated in 1973 for the [[National Book Award]] by the National Book Committee.<ref name="auto"/>

*Awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in 1976<ref name="auto1"/>

*Twice a recipient of a [[Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award]] for literature in 1979 and 1983.

*Recognized as the first recipient of the Hillsdale Prize for Fiction from the Fellowship of Southern Writers<ref name="auto1"/>


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/douglas_ellen/index.html Mississippi writers page: Ellen Douglas (Josephine Ayres Haxton)]
*[http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/douglas_ellen/index.html Mississippi writers page: Ellen Douglas (Josephine Ayres Haxton)]
*[http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/writers/ellen-douglas.html Mississippi writers: Ellen Douglas]
*[http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/writers/ellen-douglas.html Mississippi writers: Ellen Douglas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010042926/http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/writers/ellen-douglas.html |date=2008-10-10 }}


{{Authority control}}
{{bio-stub}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Ellen}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:American authors]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American women novelists]]
[[Category:University of Mississippi people]]
[[Category:University of Mississippi faculty]]
[[Category:People from Natchez, Mississippi]]
[[Category:University of Mississippi alumni]]
[[Category:Novelists from Mississippi]]
[[Category:American women short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Writers of American Southern literature]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous women writers]]
[[Category:American women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American women academics]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:21st-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:People from Hope, Arkansas]]
[[Category:People from Alexandria, Louisiana]]

Latest revision as of 16:27, 4 March 2024

Ellen Douglas
BornJosephine Ayres Haxton
July 12, 1921
Natchez, Mississippi
DiedNovember 7, 2012
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Mississippi
Notable worksA Family's Affairs (1961)

Black Cloud, White Cloud (1963) Apostles of Light (1973)

The Rock Cried Out (1979)
ChildrenAyres Haxton, Brooks Haxton, Richard Haxton[1]

Ellen Douglas was the pen name of Josephine Ayres Haxton (July 12, 1921 – November 7, 2012), an American author.[2] Her 1973 novel Apostles of Light was a National Book Award nominee.

Biography

[edit]

Douglas was born in Natchez, Mississippi, and grew up in Hope, Arkansas, and Alexandria, Louisiana. She graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1942 and later settled in Greenville, Mississippi with her husband Kenneth Haxton.[3] She had three sons with Haxton: Richard, Ayres, and Brooks Haxton,[4] the latter a notable, award-winning poet and writer.

Douglas taught writing at Ole' Miss, where she was writer-in-residence from 1979 to 1983.[4] One of her creative writing students was Larry Brown, a local Oxford firefighter who went on to publish many acclaimed works of fiction.[5]

She adopted the pen name Ellen Douglas before the publication of A Family’s Affairs to protect the privacy of two aunts, on whose lives she had based much of the plot.[6]

Douglas died of heart failure at the age of 91 on November 7, 2012.[6]

Margalit Fox writes that Douglas's work "explored the epochal divide between the Old South and the New, examining vast, difficult subjects — race relations, tensions between the sexes, the conflict between the needs of the individual and those of the community — through the small, clear prism of domestic life."[6]

Selected bibliography

[edit]

Novels and stories

[edit]
  • A Family's Affairs (1961)
  • Black Cloud, White Cloud: Two Novellas and Two Stories (1963)
  • "On the Lake", in Prize Stories 1963 (1963)
  • Where The Dreams Cross (1968)
  • Apostles of Light (Houghton Mifflin 1973)
  • The Rock Cried Out (1979)
  • A Lifetime Burning (Random House 1982)
  • A Long Night (1986)
  • The Magic Carpet and Other Tales (1987)
  • Can't Quit You, Baby (Scribners 1988)

Nonfiction

[edit]
  • Truth: Four Stories I Am Finally Old Enough to Tell (Algonquin Books 1998) ISBN 978-1-565-12214-7
  • Witnessing (University Press of Mississippi 2004) ISBN 978-1-578-06670-4

Awards and recognition

[edit]
  • "On the Lake", one of Douglas's short stories, was included in the O. Henry collection in 1961.[1]
  • A Family's Affairs was awarded the Houghton Mifflin fellowship in 1961 and was recognized as one of the five best novels of the year by The New York Times.[1]
  • Black Cloud, White Cloud was named one of the five best works of fiction by The New York Times in 1963.
  • Awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in 1976[1]
  • Recognized as the first recipient of the Hillsdale Prize for Fiction from the Fellowship of Southern Writers[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Ellen Douglas, Mississippi author". www.mswritersandmusicians.com.
  2. ^ Judith Paterson (July 10, 1988). "Southern Discomforts". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ Associated Press (June 9, 2008). "Author Ellen Douglas to be honored". USA Today
  4. ^ a b c "Ellen Douglas, Mississippi author, dies at 91". USA TODAY.
  5. ^ "Ellen Douglas, 1921-2012". www.douglashistory.co.uk.
  6. ^ a b c "Ellen Douglas, Novelist of Southern Life, Dies at 91". The New York Times. November 12, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
[edit]
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