The Ugliest Pilgrim
| "The Ugliest Pilgrim" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Doris Betts | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Red Clay Reader |
| Media type | Short story |
| Publication date | 1969 |
"The Ugliest Pilgrim" is a southern gothic short story by American writer Doris Betts.
Publication
The story was first published in volume 6 of the Red Clay Reader, an annual magazine focusing on the work of southern authors and artists.[1][2] It was collected in Betts's 1973 short story collection Beasts of the Southern Wild and Other Stories,[3] which was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Synopsis
The story follows Violet Karl, a disfigured woman in her late twenties who travels by bus from her home in Spruce Pine, North Carolina to Tulsa, Oklahoma in the hopes of being healed by a televangelist.
Adaptations
The first adaption of "The Ugliest Pilgrim" was a 1981 film titled Violet. The short film was directed by Shelley Levinson and starring Didi Conn. It won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 1982.[4]
A musical adaption, also titled Violet, was made with music by Jeanine Tesori and libretto by Brian Crawley. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1997 and won the Drama Critics' Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical.[5]
References
- ^ Thomas, Helen (March 6, 2014). "Doris Betts, a Greyhound Bus, and an Academy Award". Southern Sources. UNC Chapel Hill Library.
- ^ "Charleen Swansea Papers, 1928-2004 - 2.4.6 Red Clay Reader VI". finding-aids.lib.unc.edu. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
- ^ Betts, Doris (1998). Beasts of the southern wild and other stories. Internet Archive. New York : Scribner Paperback Fiction. ISBN 978-0-684-83805-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ Levinson, Shelley, Violet (Short), Didi Conn, Patrick Dollaghan, Rodney Saulsberry, Thomas McGowan, American Film Institute (AFI), The Center for Advanced Film Studies, retrieved January 13, 2021
- ^ "Violet". Music Theatre International. September 16, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2021.