Speakers Bureau: “The Inspiring Life of Eudora Welty”

Richelle Putnam presents “The Inspiring Life of Eudora Welty”

This PowerPoint presentation investigates and highlights Welty’s imagination, creativity, discovery, and expression through her life events. Designed for elementary/middle grades (3-6), students draw from Eudora’s experiences and relate them to their lives, illustrating how a thoughtful exploration of a lived experience—our own or others’—helps us understand the people and the world around us more fully.

This presentation examines: 1. imagination, curiosity (internal) and 2. discovery, expression (external). Presenter Richelle Putnam uses examples from the book, The Inspiring Life of Eudora Welty (The History Press), 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book award, Silver Medal recipient.

Examples of how audiences will engage with the subjects of imagination, creativity, discovery and expression include:

Imagination – Examples: Eudora and Edward draw pictures for each other while sick in bed; Eudora enters her poem into the Mr. Jingles contest; Eudora creates her first book. ACTIVITIES: (1) Create your future self through collage (art); (2) Imagine your future through writing prompt “tomorrow” stories. (Records/preserves cultural/generational idiosyncrasies, tendencies, and preferences.)

Curiosity – Examples: A simple walk to the store becomes an adventure for Eudora. Two nickels in a white box change Eudora’s life. ACTIVITIES: (1) Write about an “object” from the past that changed you or your perspective. (2) Family/Friend observation adventures. Journal experiences from individual and group perspectives. (Preserving experiences/stories).

This presentation is adaptable for upper-grade students, and can also adjust to group settings like community events, libraries, historical groups, artists/writers, etc.