Miss Eudora's House

Today at the end of our session, our conference group went to the newly opened Eudora Welty House Literary Museum. I had heard about it in February when I went to Milsaps for the Eudora Welty Workshop, and I was really glad to get a chance to come back and see it.

I didn't really know what to expect. I knew it wouldn't be ostentatious because she wasn't. I didn't expect it to be so much a home. I think there's always the risk for those of us who are free from fame to forget that those people, even those who become literary giants, actually live somewhere. Maybe it's that so many of those who become successful and well-known decide to live their lives in an epic manner that seems unreal to outsiders.

She had a wonderful home. It was a good-sized house with wonderful gardens. They have restored the house to reflect the late 1980's, Welty's last creative period before the decline of her health. The gardens are being restored to a 1940's state including the reintroduction of endangered and heritage plants that would have been common at the time, but are currently in danger of disappearing. It was lovely even in an unfinished state. Twenty-foot-tall camellia bushes surround the front and one side of the porch. I want to go back when they bloom around October. It will be breathtaking. There are roses, crepe myrtle, heritage irises, and gardenias. It's a Southern heaven, the kind of yard that could stir the soul to poetry just by walking through the dewy evening grasses.

The preservationists want to house to feel as if Miss Welty just stepped out and will be back in a moment. It gave a really charming picture of what her day to day life must have been like in the house. It also made me feel a bit like an intruder prying into someone's private space, especially when we went into her bedroom where she wrote. Overall, though, it was a very special place filled with the spirit of a great writer. I kept expecting to turn around and see her slipping around the corner. To me, that's the best indication that they have succeeded in their goals.

If you have a chance to go, please check it out. It's open odd hours, and right now, you need to call for a reservation, but you can click here for more information about it. If you should go, let me know what you thought about it. I'd be interested in your comments.