March 25

She was one of Georgia’s most famous literary figures.

Mary Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah in 1925 and graduated from Georgia State College for Women. Then it was on to the University of Iowa, home to the famous Writers’ Workshop, where she rubbed elbows with some of America’s leading writers.

Moving to New York, she began work on her first novel, but was diagnosed with lupus, the same incurable blood disease that killed her father. She moved back to Andalusia, the family farm in Milledgeville, but continued to write. She published her first novel, Wise Blood, in 1952 followed by a short story collection, A Good Man is Hard to Find.

O’Connor was a devout Catholic and her work often explored religious themes. She died in 1964 from complications of lupus and is buried in Milledgeville. After her death, her collection entitled, The Complete Stories, received the 1972 National Book Award, honoring a remarkable body of work in a life that began on March 25, 1925, Today in Georgia History.