Betty Wahl

Cassandra Nelson (United States Air Force Academy)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.4: Irish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Anne Markey (Dublin City University), Ian Campbell Ross (Trinity College Dublin), Eoghan Smith (Carlow College), Sinéad Sturgeon (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Born 16 Jan 1924
Died 12 May 1988
Activity 1947-1988

Places

Born in United States
Active in Ireland, Republic of (Eire); United States

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Story-writer

Resources

Wahl's Works

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Elizabeth Alice Wahl was born on January 16, 1924 to Arthur and Romana Wahl in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The eldest of four children, she grew up surrounded by the tools of her father's construction trade and graduated from Cathedral High School in 1941 before enrolling at the nearby College of St. Benedict. As the names of the town and schools suggest, Wahl was raised in a region with a strong sense of Roman Catholic identity and she was herself a practicing Catholic throughout her life.

The College of St. Benedict provided the inspiration and setting for Wahl's early fiction. She regularly contributed stories to the quarterly student magazine and began work on a loosely autobiographical novel. She also became a favorite student of Sister Mariella Gable, a charismatic teacher in the English

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1055 words

Citation: Nelson, Cassandra. "Betty Wahl". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12216, accessed 25 November 2024.]