Gwen Bristow (September 16, 1903 – August 17, 1980) was an American writer and journalist, best known for her tales of the Old South, especially the "Plantation Trilogy." In 1974, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Early life

Bristow was born in Marion, South Carolina in 1903 to Baptist minister Louis Judson Bristow and Caroline Cornelia Winkler. Bristow became interested in writing while reporting junior high school functions for her local newspaper.

Education

Bristow attended Anderson Baptist College in Anderson, South Carolina, for one year before transferring to Judson College in Marion, Alabama. Bristow disliked the strict rules that Judson imposed on its all-women student population. Students were required to wear uniforms, and they were forbidden from speaking with men or boys during visits downtown. Bristow directed and acted in two plays at Judson, playing the roles of men in both. Bristow was voted "Most Original" in her junior class in 1923.

Bristow graduated from Judson College in 1924 with degrees in English and French. Bristow's parents moved to New Orleans in February of that year.

By 1950, the couple lived in the San Fernando Valley. There, Bristow wrote Celia Garth (1959). She continued to write novels and articles for magazines until her death in 1980.

Health

Bristow drank alcohol frequently and at times to excess, and smoked cigarettes. She also followed a careful regimen of one hour's daily exercise spent walking, swimming, or bicycling. Bristow stood 5 feet 4 inches tall. Bristow had plastic surgery in 1937 to affix her ears more closely to her head and had her lashes and eyebrows dyed regularly.

Bibliography

  • The Alien, and Other Poems (1926)
  • The Invisible Host (1930), with Bruce Manning, later republished as The Ninth Guest
  • The Gutenberg Murders (1931), with Bruce Manning
  • The Mardi Gras Murders (1932), with Bruce Manning
  • Two and Two Make Twenty-two (1932), with Bruce Manning
  • "Plantation Trilogy":
  • Deep Summer (1937),
  • The Handsome Road (1938),
  • This Side of Glory (1940),
  • Gwen Bristow (1940), autobiography
  • Tomorrow Is Forever (1943),
  • Jubilee Trail (1950),
  • Celia Garth (1959),
  • Calico Palace (1970), , set in 1848-1851 San Francisco
  • From Pigtails to Wedding Bells (1978), , non-fiction
  • Golden Dreams (1980),

References

Further reading

  • Interview with Gwen Bristow in 1976 at California State University, Northridge