What better way for a writer to make sure future generations understand her life and work to than to write her own story? In the introduction to her unfinished autobiography, editor Carlos L. Dews writes, "Perhaps more important than any of the specific content in the autobiography are the traces of Carson's personality found just beneath the surface of the narrative. McCullers's rare, cherished illuminations helped her survive the most frequent and lasting night glare because they provided her, like her character Mick Kelly in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, an inner room to which she could retreat to recover, create, and protect herself."

Photo credit: Harry Ransom Center

Join Carson on a visit to her own inner room.