Ellen Louise Gilchrist was born on February 20, 1935, in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Gilchrist earned a B.A. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. She then studied creative writing under Eudora Welty and earned a B.A. from Millsaps College. She later worked on an M.F.A. in creative writing at the University of Arkansas.
Gilchrist worked as a contributing editor for Vieux Carre Courier. Afterwards she published a collection of poems called The Land Surveyor's Daughter. Her first anthology of short stories, The Land of Dreamy Dreams, won critical acclaim. Another collection of short stories, Victory over Japan, won the National Book Award in 1984. She is known for her novels, The Anna Papers, A Dangerous Age, and Net of Jewels. Gilchrist has taught creative writing at the University of Arkansas.
Gilchrist passed away on January 30, 2024.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Ellen Gilchrist and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Ellen Gilchrist with her father, William Garth Gilchrist Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Ellen Gilchrist with her brother, Dooley Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Ellen Gilchrist (2nd from left) with her brother, Dooley Gilchrist; her mother, Aurora "Bodie" Louise Alford Gilchrist; and Crane boy
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Ellen Gilchrist with her mother, Aurora "Bodie" Louise Alford Gilchrist; father, William Garth Gilchrist Jr.; and brother, Dooley Gilchrist, 1939
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Ellen Gilchrist and her mother, Aurora "Bodie" Louise Alford Gilchrist, in matching dresses made by her mother
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Ellen Gilchrist with her mother, Aurora "Bodie" Louise Alford Gilchrist, and her godmother
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Ellen Gilchrist in a college portrait wearing her Chi Omega sorority pin
© Copyright Edward Vantine Studio, Hamilton, New York
#10: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Ellen Gilchrist's sons, Marshall, Garth, and Pierre Walker
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Ellen Gilchrist with her father, William Garth Gilchrist Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Ellen Gilchrist with her son, Pierre, in their home in New Orleans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Ellen Gilchrist with her sons, Marshall and Garth Walker, in the British Virgin Islands
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Ellen Gilchrist
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Ellen Gilchrist with Roger Donald, editor at Little, Brown and Company, at the New York Public Library
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Jim Whitehead, Ellen Gilchrist, and Tom Royals, Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Copyright Andrew Kilgore
#28: Ellen Gilchrist, recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Arkansas, speaking at the All-University Commencement; Fayetteville, Arkansas; May 13, 2000
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Ellen Gilchrist at her home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Ellen Gilchrist (center) with her sons and their families, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Ellen Gilchrist; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Ellen Gilchrist; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Ellen Gilchrist; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Ellen Gilchrist; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Ellen Gilchrist; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Ellen Gilchrist; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2010
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
